You belong with me English
by bluebran
Summary: How did the marauders meet? How did they become friends? And what about James and Lily? How were their lives at Hogwarts? To find out, read this fanfiction, as canon as posible  Translation from the story with the same name, written by me in Spanish   Cover image credits on my profile page.  NOT a T.S. songfic!
1. Chapter 1: Lily

_Ook, this is the first chapter of my first longfic, originally written in spanish.  
If there's any contradiction with the books, please let me know, because I tried to make it as canon as possible_

_The first two or three chapter may be a little bit boring, as they consist mainly on flashbacks. The reason for them to be like that is that i didn't want to start writing from year one, but i wanted you to know some things that happened in the first two years, which happened before the marauder's 3rd year (around 1973, if im not wrong), which is where the story begins_

_Disclaimer:  
Lily, lthe marauders, Sevie and everything you can recognise belongs to JKR  
Brianna y Sam are mine ;)_

_Before reading, consider 2 things: this is my first fanfiction, and my first language is not English, I didn't even write this "thinking in English", this is a translation from my story written in Spanish, so I would be extremely grateful if you reviewed correcting and commenting on my grammar and vocabulary besides commenting on the story… Thanks a lot!_

**_THIRD YEAR_**

A faint ray of sunshine entered through the room's window and illuminated the girl's wavy and thick mane of red hair, which framed a pale, thin and angular face, sprinkled all over with tiny little freckles. She absent-mindedly scratched her delicate nose with the feather quill and kept on writing, to be interrupted seconds later by a couple of soft knocks. When she turned around, a beautiful brunette smiled from the half-opened door.

"Lily, honey, it's five o' clock already" the girl looked surprised at her wristwatch and nodded.

The girl looked surprised at her wristwatch and nodded.

"Mm, how time flies! I haven't finished writing the letter to Sam yet, but I can do it when we come back…"

"Ok, get ready, then. No hurry. Dad and I will be waiting for you downstairs," The woman answered, with a little bit of excitement.

Lily couldn't help smiling; she was going to start her third year at Hogwarts, but her mother still got thrilled each time they had to go to Diagon Alley to buy the school books and stuff… actually, her father enjoyed it a lot as well. Petunia, otherwise, locked herself in her room for hours, grumpy, and frowned, scandalized if her mother insisted on giving her some sweet she had bought for her, no matter how "muggle" it looked. Lily got a little sad when she thought of her sister, but when she glanced at the half-finished letter resting in her desk; she smiled once again, remembering her friends and how she had met them…

***flashback***

A skinny little redhead walked tearful in the Hogwarts Express' corridors, trying to forget the repugnance and fury that could be read on her sister's face when she said goodbye to her. The word "Freak!" yelled with profound disgust was still ringed in her ears when she finally found an empty compartment. She entered in it and hunched against the windowpane, trying to control the shaking caused by the sobs. Seconds later, she heard the door opening, and slightly opening her eyes she could discern through the tears a tall, skinny boy with glasses and black messy hair, who, without even asking, had sat in the seat in front of her. Lily opened her mouth in order to spit out how rude he was, but immediately changed her mind. She didn't want to, and she didn't have the energy to argue with anyone. The dark-haired boy looked at her, slightly interested, wondering about the reason of her crying. Lily straightened up a little on her seat and looked him in the eye, haughty; she didn't want to talk to anybody, but she was expecting at least that the arrogant stranger said hello and introduced himself, or at least apologized for entering without asking for permission. But he didn't. The redhead frowned, and the boy would have sworn that there were sparks coming out of her huge (put comma in after huge and gorgeous to separate two different describing adjectives so it reads huge, gorgeous, green eyes) gorgeous green eyes. That made him smile with smugness, which made Lily's mood even worse, who hunched again against the window, picking up the thread of her thoughts. At that moment, the door was tugged open, and another boy, really good-looking, with black, silky, neck-length hair rushed into the compartment. His grey eyes went from the redhead to the boy, and without hesitating he sat in front of the latter, holding out his hand to him.

"Hi. I'm Sirius Black," He said, smiling sideways. The redhead didn't miss the fact that, despite he did say hello, he hadn't asked for permission to stay either.

"Great," she thought "I have to share the car with a couple of insolent, bigheaded brats."

"I'm James Potter," answered the other one, shaking his hand and smiling too.  
Sirius made a movement, as if he was going to shake the girl's hand, but she didn't take the cue and, hesitating, the boy looked at James, who shrugged his shoulders and made a gesture with his hand, indicating him to leave her alone. His mate glanced at her once again, but seemed to decide not to take a shot. Without losing time, the boys started chatting animatedly, ignoring Lily and the kid who entered and sat in front of the girl minutes later.

"I don't want to talk to you." Lily said in a constricted voice, after looking up to the newcomer, a gawky, sallow, sad-looking kid with long black hair, which appeared to have never seen a shampoo bottle.

"Why not?"

"Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?"

She threw him a look of deep dislike.

"So she's my sister!"

"She's only a…" He caught himself quickly; Lily, too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, did not hear him.

"But we're going!," He said, unable to suppress the exhilaration in his voice, "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"

She nodded, mopping her eyes, but in spite of herself, she half smiled.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said Snape, encouraged that she had brightened a little.

"Slytherin?," James said, who had startled, looking around when he heard that word.

"Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" He asked the boy lounged in the seats opposite him.

"My whole family has been in Slytherin," he said, seriously.

"Blimey!," said James, "and I thought you seemed all right!"

Sirius grinned.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword.

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad."

Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise, "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy."  
"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?," interjected Sirius.

James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Oohhhhh…"

James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip Snape as he passed.

"See ya, Snivellus!" a voice called, as the compartment door slammed…

Once they were out, Lily smiled at him gently.

"Let's go look for another compartment, there must be an empty one… "

However, no matter how much they walked, every car was full. When they reached the end of the train and looked through the door's glass, they saw a girl with curly, dark brown hair, very slight, with her nose buried in an enormous book.

"What do you think? Not empty, but…," asked Lily, looking at her friend before knocking gently the door with her knuckles. Severus shrugged his shoulders, frowning a little. He wasn't really fond of the idea of fraternizing with other students: he hadn't had very good experiences with the few kids from the neighborhood, and he wasn't very willing to repeat what happened with the other two stupid boys. The girl in the compartment raised her head, startled, making visible a pair of round night-blue eyes, framed by her long, thick eyelashes. Lily half-opened the door and smiled with sympathy.

"Do you mind?" She asked, pointing alternatively at the compartment, her, and the boy.

"Not at all," whispered the little girl timidly, leaving the book aside.

Lily entered smiling, dragging an unsociable Severus, who sat in a corner, very serious.

"Thank you," said the redhead, "The train is so full! We couldn't find seats."

"Yes, I know, I arrived to the station very late, and was afraid I wouldn't find a seat… but this compartment was free, just at the end of the train," agreed the girl, looking at her hands, and only out of the corner of her eye at her new classmate.

"My name is Lily Evans. Lily." She said, holding out his hand to her with a friendly smile, already forgetting Petunia and the boys' incident, "And this is Severus Snape."

Severus slightly nodded towards the brunette.

"I'm Brianna Boot," greeted the girl, shaking Lily's hand and smiling to both of them. She had a beautiful wide smile, which bubbled over with warmth. "You can call me Bree."

The redhead, cheerful again, began chatting with Brianna who, after losing her shyness, turned out to be an extremely nice and interesting partner. Usually she was quiet, but Lily, being friends with Severus, knew how to make conversation. When half an hour of journey had went by, during the one the boy had limited to stare the wall, answering in monosyllables each time his friend tried to include him in the conversation (after which she had gave up), the door opened again, really abruptly. Lily raised her head, slightly annoyed, and Bree, surprised.

"I'm sorry," said the girl who was guilty of the interruption, blushing. She was tall for her age (around eleven years old, like them), and had an amazing hair, extremely straight and black, that fell gracefully on her back. A fringe, a little bit too long, covered part of her deep chocolate eyes.

"I didn't mean to bother. But the boys in my compartment are complete jerks; they haven't stopped messing with me since the train took off, with me, or with anyone passing by."

Lily smiled, understandingly, with a slight idea of who the previously mentioned boys could be. She looked for a second at her partner, who shrugged her shoulders, nodding.

"You can stay, if you want to. Here there's plenty of room," she said for Severus's consternation, who sulked even more.

"Thanks a lot," smiled the newcomer while shaking the girls' hands and then waving at the boy, who had his arms strongly folded across his chest.

"My name is Samantha Perks. Sam, if you want.

"Pleased to meet you. Lily, Lily Evans."

"Brianna Boot"

"Lily elbowed her friend, who looked at her, visibly irritated.

"Severus Snape," he muttered, looking somewhere else.

Samantha stared at him, curious, and sat next to Bree, joining the conversation with confidence.

When the train stopped, it was night already. The girls, still chatting happily, went down the train together and sat in one of the boats,following the huge gamekeeper. Snape, who had insisted with his silence during the whole trip, was dragged by his sleeve by Lily, who couldn't stop smiling. Severus, in spite of himself, ended up smiling her back, winning a hug from her friend. The other two girls looked at them curious, but didn't ask anything and kept chattering.

Once they were in the Great Hall, Lily forgot everything and everybody. She stood spellbound gaping at the immense starry sky shining in the ceiling, until she heard the professor started calling the students. Then, nervousness flooded her, and she stood really stiff, gazing at the hat. She could barely smile at Bree, who waved her hand at her while running towards the Gryffindor table, in front of that smug kid, Black.

"Evans, Lily!"

The girl jumped in her seat and walked forward on trembling legs and sit down upon the rickety stool. Professor McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat onto her head, and barely a second after it had touched the dark red hair, the hat cried, "Gryffindor!"

Snape let out a tiny groan. Lily took off the hat, handed it back to Professor McGonagall, then hurried toward the cheering Gryffindor's, but as she went she glanced back at Snape, and there was a sad little smile on her face. Sirius moved up the bench to make room for her. She took one look at him, folded her arms, and firmly turned her back on him

The roll call continued. A really pale boy, with rings under his eyes, light brown hair and sad, honey-coloured eyes sat opposite Lily, who looked at him with sympathy and a wide smile. The boy looked at her slightly surprised, and gave her a little smile. At that moment, the boy from the train, Black, stretched on the table, pushing a little an annoyed Lily and tipping over an empty glass, in order to hold out his hand to the new Gryffindor.

"Whassup? I'm Sirius Black. Congrats, huh?" Sirius seemed extremely happy and satisfied with his house.

"I'm Remus Lupin," answered the boy, stretching his classmate's hand, surprised again. He looked really happy too.

Lily continued talking with Bree, until "Perks, Samantha" was called. Both of them cheered enthusiastically her new friend when she, after hearing the hat yell "Gryffindor!", ran towards them and flopped down into the seat on the other side of Lily.

"Uff!" She sighed, with a hand on her stomach, "I'm so hungry!"

"And there are still a few more to be sorted…" Sirius confirmed. Samantha looked at him, and Lily's suspicions were proved when her friend threw him a scornful look and kept on chatting with her friends.

Minutes later, a chubby, short kid with sand-coloured hair and rodent features who answered to the name of Peter Pettigrew fell on the table. He seemed really fearful, and smiled thankful when Sirius invited him to sit next to Remus, in front of him.

When Professor McGonagall's powerful voice called "Potter, James", Sirius interrupted the conversation and raised his head, but before he could finish doing it, the hat had roared "Gryffindor!", as soon as it brushed the boy's head. A pleased James approached the table and sat between Sirius and Lily, who sighed annoyed. The boy noticed it and looked at her with a boastful smile.

"Hey, redhead. Are we in a better mood already? Where's your friend, Snivellus? He mustn't be very happy that you ended up on Gryffindor, must he?"

Lily gave him a look of deep contempt, her emerald eyes sparkling once again. But exactly at that moment, she heard they were calling "Snape, Severus", and watched sadly as her friend sat on the farthest table, and a blond prefect patted his back.

***end of flashback***

"Lily?" a voice called, interrupting her thoughts.

"Coming, mum!" answered the girl, running towards the stairs and taking her bag before leaving.


	2. Chapter 2: James

_**Chaptertwo...Well, thanks to CookiesandCream1234567 and to iloveharrypotter711 for the reviews. THis one is too short, but i had to choose between short and long and well, went for short.**_

_**Please, I would be truly greatful if people reading this left me a review. Thanks a lot, here we go:**_

A boy with black messy hair read a page of his complicated book again and again, frustrated. He took off his square glasses and rubbed his eyes, lying back on the chair. Being thirteen years old, he had a thin but muscular body, a result of the long Quidditch training hours. He was a very good-looking boy, though a little bit arrogant and spoilt, but a really good person, and really loyal to his friends. When he finally removed his hands from his face, a couple of deep but not too dark rings became visible under his eyes. He put his glasses back on, snapped the book shut and threw it to the bed. He messed up his hair with his hand and sighed again, gazing absent-mindedly outside at the garden which could be seen through the open window. He was really worried about Remus. Full moon was close again and knew that his friend was suffering a lot. Besides, they weren't making any progress. He was starting to believe they wouldn't make it, but immediately put that idea away. They were the Marauders, of course they were gonna make it. That thought made him smile, remembering the first day of school, when they had met for the first time: since then, they were inseparable.

***flashback***

Once the girl had slammed the door closed, James and Sirius looked at each other and smirked. Sirius had entered the compartment right after him, and he immediately realized they were going to get along. He didn't have to make any effort to ignore the bitter green-eyed redhead to embark in a lively conversation with the boy. It turned out that they both loved Quidditch and admired the same players, and they both seemed to find it extremely entertaining to play pranks on other people. Exactly when he was telling him one of his most famous pranks, which had won him a several-week punishment, the unsociable kid who was chatting with the redhead had mentioned that he wanted to be in Slytherin, and they had figured out a way of making them leave the compartment.

"Is it true that your whole family has been in Slytherin?" James asked, torn between curiosity and suspicion.

"Yes," answered Sirius, and his countenance darkened for a second. "But I've already told you I'm going to break the tradition. Maybe they'll disown me and everything."

He laughed, and they kept talking about funnier topics.

At that moment, an extremely tall, straight-haired girl entered and asked for permission to stay in there. They nodded, shrugging their shoulders, and kept chatting. The girl glared at them, a little bit upset, with her eyebrows raised, and pursed her lips when she realized they were neither going to say hello nor introduce themselves, and that apparently they were going to ignore her, but she sat anyway. After a few minutes Sirius and James started to get bored, and they begun making even more racket. They went out to the corridor for a while, but came back making pitchy and squeaky noises come out of their wands, competing, apparently, seeing who could make the more annoying noise. The girl sighed, irritated, and shifted in her seat, still looking through the window. The two troublemakers looked at each other and smiled, turning up the sounds' volume, grinning at the girl with fake innocence. She, even more furious, stood up and walked away slamming the door shut; she had been snorting in a really annoying way since they had started playing pranks to the students in the corridors, thank God she had left.

When they finally arrived at the castle, they easily found an empty boat. A blond smiling kid and a pale boy, with honey-coloured eyes and a sad look in them sat next to them. They didn't speak at all in the way through the lake: they were too excited to get distracted. Once they were inside, James and Sirius couldn't help playing a couple of small innocent pranks to some of their classmates, getting some deserved shouts from the severe woman who led them to the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall.

Once the sorting ceremony had started, the anxious murmurs ended. James smiled broadly when he saw his friend walk triumphant towards the Gryffindor table. The boy with the rings under his eyes from the boat ended up there too. When it was his turn, the confident black-haired boy moved forward among the crowd and put on the hat with self-assurance. A smirk from ear to ear crossed his face when the hat announced him as a new member of the braves' house. Already at the table, he sat next to Sirius and the little green-eyed redhead from the train. He couldn't help bothering her a little before keep on chatting with his friend, who patted him on the back and introduced him to Remus Lupin, the guy from the boat. The boy smiled shyly, slightly fearful, but every doubt disappeared when James smiled him nicely and vigorously shook his hand. The kid seemed happier than ever, as if he couldn't believe he was making friends. Then, James shook Peter's (the small chubby boy) hand too, who greeted him back so enthusiastically that he looked as if he was going to pee in his pants.

The four boys kept talking all the way to the Common Room, wondering about the classes, the teachers, the rooms. When they arrived at a portrait of a very fat woman in a silky pink dress, a gangling Prefect announced the password, Felix Felicis, to reveal through the round whole behind the painting a cozy round room with a chimney, in front of which there was a table surrounded by a group of squashy armchairs. The whole place was decorated in Gryffindor's colours, red and gold, and at the sides, two spiral staircases went up opening off the room.

"Boys," announced the Prefect pointing at one of the staircases. "And girls. First years sleep on the firsts rooms. Now, go to bed, tomorrow is going to be a long day.

The four friends went up the stairs and settled down in the first room, which had four beds with deep-red velvet curtains. Sirius threw his robes next to his trunk and lay down into the bed, with his arms in the back of his head.

"Ahhh, this is the life," he sighed. He still had a smirk planted on his face; enjoying the memory of his cousin's Narcissa (that blonde girl with ice blue eyes who stared at him from the snake's table) surprised and outraged face. He could already imagine the Howler his mother would send him tomorrow during the breakfast.

James looked at him and laughed, flinging himself into the bed, leaving the robes at the foot of it, all crumpled. Remus, otherwise, perfectly folded everything before sitting, while Peter tripped with his own feet.

"I can't wait until tomorrow. I want to start exploring the castle right now, my dad told me a lot of things about it; there are secret passages everywhere!" James said excitedly. Remus looked at him worried but interested.

"I've heard about the passages too… it would be great to know them all, but I had understood that we couldn't prowl around the castle, and less at night. And we would have to do it at night; during the day we won't have much time." The boy replied. He surprised himself when he realized he had used the plural. He smiled unconsciously: he had the feeling he had just met the best friends of his entire life.

"Oh, come on," Sirius said, playing down its importance with a gesture of his hand. "Who says we have to follow the rules? It will be way much fun breaking them."

"Done, then. That's what we're gonna do." James added, slightly sleepy, "We will be the Marauders of Hogwarts!"

The other boys smiled at the witticism, and wet to be smiling, happy of having met each other.

***End of Flashback***

James laughed out loud. That first year had been amazing: they had broken practically every possible rule, they had played countless pranks on the Slytherins, they had found a lot of short cuts and secrets around the castle (including one that led to the village, Hogsmeade), and they also had to pay several punishments. Besides, they had all visited James during the summer, and had spent a really fun at Godric's Hollow. Second year had been even better, because he had got the chaser's spot in the Gryffindor team, and Sirius had got permission from Professor McGonagall to officiate as commentator. Sirius and he seemed to be the best at everything and the rest of the students seemed to worship them. Remus was also an excellent student, but he had a really low profile. Actually, Peter seemed to be the only one who didn't stand out in anything (though Sirius stated that he would be the one to found the James and Sirius fan club, or even better, the Marauders fan club).

But there was something that had worried them during their whole first year: once a month, Remus disappeared from school to come back a week later with rings under his eyes, pale, and tired. His friends interrogated him, worried, but he assured them he was perfectly fine and that he had gone to take care of his sick mother, but when the boys wanted to go into greater detail, Remus avoided the subject. At the beginning of the second year, during Remus's first disappearance, Sirius and James decided to intervene. Peter, who didn't understand anything, fervently nodded when the boys asked if he would join them. Actually, the boys didn't think Remus was doing anything bad, but they were more worried every time: they knew he was hiding something, and they saw him suffer a lot, to later go away without prior warning..

***flashback***


	3. Chapter 3: Furry Little Problem

Yayy I finally found the way of uploading the next chapter! This nº 2 error that has been poping up this two last weeks is getting on my nerves… Thank GOD I found at yahoo answers how to upload…

I don't know, hope you like it. They're still flashbacks, I promise they're about to end, but I want the "pre-story" of James and Lily's story to be clear :) I would really like you to leave me some review…

***flashback***

The rain poured furiously outside, rhythmically tapping against the Common Room's window. The room was empty, except for three lonely second year Gryffindors.

Peter snoozed on the armchair, while Sirius, who was a great drawer, sketched absent-mindedly a landscape on the table, sitting on the floor. James, bored, leafed through an empty diary somebody had left behind. Concern could be read on their faces; they couldn't stop thinking that, once again, Remus was away from school. There had been almost a week since this, and since it happened, they boys waited awake till late in the Common Room, in case their friend came back.

Sirius threw the quill aside and leant back on the nearest couch's foot, folding his arms and sighing, with a lost gaze.

— I think we're gonna have to get serious with Remus. Ask him for an explanation. Something's wrong with him, he can't disappear for one week every month! And I don't want him to come up with his sick mum's story, if there's somebody who's sick, that's him; every time he comes back he appears weaker than ever, way too tired, and besides… – Sirius kept relieving his worries, making wide gestures with his arms, but James had stopped listening, staring at the diary he was holding.

— You said he disappears once a month? – He asked in a low voice, getting off the couch and approaching to Sirius, without removing his eyes from the notebook.

— Yeah, I think so… – Sirius looked at him, puzzled.

— You think, or you're sure? –James repeated anxiously while his friend leaned in order to be able to see what he was holding.

— I'm sure… – his voice transformed into a whisper as he understood what James had saw.

Sirius snatched the notebook out of his hands and begun turning the pages over, while he asked James with agitation:

— Last month. October. When, in which date Remus disappeared?

— I don't know, I don't know! Let me think. – James said, nervous, drumming his fingers on the table. – Like a week before Halloween… It was the day we had to hand in that essay on the curses for Professor Fraser…

James went through Peter's bag (who kept sleeping, oblivious to the stir around him) to take out the little notebook where the boy wrote down his homework.

— 22nd. October 22.

Sirius hand shook as he showed his friend the page that matched with the mentioned day.

— It may be a coincidence… – James said, with his eyes wider and wider, getting back the diary from Sirius's hands, and turning the pages over even faster.

— The first time Remus disappeared this year was when you got the chaser's spot. He wasn't with us to celebrate. Remember the date?

— Of course, how could I forget it, I waited for that day for weeks: September 23. – Suddenly, he stopped at one of the pages and showed it to Sirius. They were too many to be just coincidences.

Next to the dates they had mentioned, and next to the date of six days ago, in the place where the moon phases where marked, there was a perfect red circle. Full moon.

To confirm what they had found out, they racked their brains writing down the exact dates they remembered Remus had been gone: the day James threw that small birthday party (March 29, he had delayed it two days because of the exams), that 26th of July when that awful attack to hundreds of _muggles_ had been perpetuated while they were visiting James at Godric's Hollow… All of them coincided with the full moon. And everything fitted: the disappearances, the constant rings under his eyes, the tiredness…

Once they had assessed the evidence, and considered that was the only explanation, they woke Peter up. The small rodent eyes opened wide as dishes when he heard what his friends were telling him.

— We have to do SOMETHING – Sirius said, after a while of deathly silence.

— Stay here. Gonna get something out of the library. – James went up the steps two at a time, went through his trunk, and went down the stairs holding his invisibility cloak. He stealthily opened the Fat Lady's portrait and disappeared in the dark corridor.

Twenty minutes later, he came back carrying a heavy book, in which cover it could be seen an enormous wolf, standing on his back legs, howling at the moon: _Life and Sufferings of a Werewolf. _His friends gathered around him and listened carefully to what the dark-haired boy read them.

Remus Lupin turned around the last bend of the seventh floor's east wing and walked slowly up the corridor, slightly limping. He was paler and thinner than usual, but there wasn't any visible cut on his face: as always, Madame Pomfrey had done a great job healing his wounds. But that didn't take the pain again, nor the suffering. With one last resigned sigh, which made him wrinkle his face with pain, he said the password to the Fat Lady and entered the Common Room. As it seemed to have became a habit, they were waiting for him. But this time, despite it was really late, they were completely awake.

— Remus – James voice, when he pronounced his name, went out soaked in an emotion he couldn't recognize. Strangely, they didn't run towards him, as it was usual. With a little wrinkle on his forehead, the pale boy casted his eyes over his three friends' serious faces, to stop on a book which rested on the table. He turned livid, and his eyes widened with surprise first, to express, then, understanding, resignation, and a lot of pain. He shut them hard, but he couldn't help that a lonely tear flowed from them. He bit his lips, strongly closing his fists, sinking his nails into his flesh.

— Ok. In the morning, I'll ask professor Dumbledore to change me to another room. You don't have to worry; tonight I'll not sleep with you. – Remus let out without even opening his eyes, to run away back through the whole, without looking back. If he would have done it, he would have been able to see his friends' puzzled expressions. They would have expected anything but that. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds, and without exchanging a word they rushed after him.

It wasn't too hard following him: his footsteps echoed on the stone flooring, and every now and then, its monotony was broken by a sudden sob. Finally they reached him when they arrived to the corridor with the tapestry of Barnabas the Barny, on the same floor. When Remus, who hadn't seen them, was running in front of it, a heavy wooden door materialized on the solid wall opposite to the tapestry. The boy stopped and looked at it disconcerted, and then turned the doorknob and entered the place. The three marauders, who have stopped at the end of the corridor, got even more surprised when the door disappeared again. They ran towards the tapestry and looked a bit confused at the stone wall. Sirius, visibly worried, begun hitting the wall with his fists.

— Stop it, Sirius! You're gonna hurt yourself – James said, while Peter and him pulled his robes to make him see sense. – There has to be any rational explanation for this.

Sirius looked at him, skeptical

— And what is it that you consider rational? Cause a door that appears and disappears just doesn't seem the most rational thing in the world, no matter how much of a wizard I am. I don't know what you are used to. – James looked at him slightly annoyed and started walking up and down the corridor, thinking and speaking out loud.

— Where the hell does this door lead to? We need to talk to Remus! What the hell has happened to him? Run away like that...!

— James…

— Could it be that the door leads to Hogsmeade? Or maybe somewhere else in the castle… To the grounds, maybe…?

— James…

— Sirius, I'm trying to think! – James kept walking up and down.

— James! – this time, Peter joined Sirius, which seemed to work, because James finally looked up, to find himself standing in front of the same wooden door that had disappeared before. Without losing time, Sirius grabbed the doorknob and turned it; the entered and closed the door behind them.

It was a beautiful room, not to big but extremely cosy, with a huge chimney in the center. Opposite it, there was a thick rug, and some kind of big pouffes. On one of them, it could be seen a ball of clothes shaking violently. Remus.

The friends approached to him and sat around the boy, who didn't hear them arrive. After some minutes of watching the shape sob and tremble, James raised his hand and put it on Remus's forearm, who was so startled that jumped from his seat. When he recomposed a little, he looked puzzled at the boys' worried faces. He slightly half-closed his reddened eyes.

— You didn't have to follow me. I've already told you I'll ask Dumbledore to change me to other room. You won't have to stand my company. But I'm not dangerous now. You didn't have to follow me – he repeated.

Sirius looked as if he had finally understood everything, James let Remus go, raising a lot his eyebrows, and Peter dared to give a hint of a tiny smile.

— You do _are_ an idiot! – Sirius snapped, even laughing a little. Remus looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

— Are you stupid, or something? – James said, staring at him still with disbelief. – Well, I thought lycanthropy didn't affect the brains. Maybe you're a special case.

Sirius and Peter laughed, but Lupin stared at James, astonished. He had mentioned his "condition" without fear, without disgust, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

— Don't you _care_? – whispered Remus in disbelief when he finally recovered his powers of speech.

— Of course we do! Because we worry about you! – Sirius yelled

— You should have told us about it, Remus – Peter said, putting one of his hands on Remus's back

— You disappear once a month and come back as if they had beaten the hell out of you! – Sirius kept on, ignoring the chuckle emitted by James. – And you don't explain it to us! Of course we are worried, but because now we know you are a werewolf, we know you suffer a lot, Remus. And we understand you. We want to help you.

— But… you don't mind? Do you still wanna be my friends? Aren't you scared of me? – When he said that last line, his three friends burst into a fit of laughter making the gloomy lycanthrope smile.

— Remus, seriously, you are not that scary. Of course we still wanna be your friends! You just have a furry little problem, no big deal… - James said, shrugging his shoulders.

Remus couldn't believe it yet. Sirius looked at him with a half smile.

— But, you gotta promise you'll never hide something like that to us. – added the grey-eyed, dark-haired boy, sticking the boy's chest with his finger, and then hugged him. James and Peter joined the hug.

When they finally let Remus go, he was beside himself with joy.

— Well, now that we cleared up that apparently Remus isn't as smart as he seemed to be… haven't you wondered where we are? And why does this place appear and disappear? – Sirius asked, sinking back into his pouffe and observing curious the room. His friends looked around and nodded.

— I knew it had come out of nowhere… but I thought I was just seeing things – said Remus while Peter stood up and started walking around the place.

— The most interesting thing is that the room appeared exactly when Remus needed it, and has all that could have been useful to make him feel better; this cosy seats, silence to think…

— Maybe that's what it is: a room that shows up when you feel like that, like Remus, and need it – Peter ventured.

— Mm, could be, but then, why did it appeared for us? –Added Sirius, thoughtful – What were you thinking when you went past there, Remus? – he inquired, sitting up a little.

— That I wanted to be calm, in a place where I could cry… – his friend answered, slightly blushing.

— What about you, James? What were you thinking while you walked up and down in front of the door?

— Finding Remus.

— What about looking it up in _Hogwarts, A History_? –suggested the lycanthrope, who still had a ear to ear smile.

— Great idea. Did you bring the cloak, James? – Sirius said, standing up.

— No, I didn't. I left it at the Common Room; we left in a hurry… And we'd better not risk going to the library now. We'll have to wait until tomorrow.

But right then, Peter, open-mouthed, pointed at some small shelves that had just appeared on one of the walls. Remus approached to it and took a huge volume. He held it up in a way his friends could read the title: _Hogwarts, a History_.

While the lycanthrope read the book's index and leafed through it, James, Sirius and Peter, amazed, spend their time wishing things that appeared out of nowhere around them. But when Peter wished some cupcakes, nothing happened.

— Eh! – the boy complained

— Think the room doesn't want you to get any fatter, Pete. It's afraid you won't be able to go out through the door. – James teased him, provoking Sirius's laughter.

— Food is one of the five principal exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration –Remus recited, without stopping going through the book. Sirius rolled his eyes, whispering "bookworm". Peter was even more disconcerted.

— It means that although you can transform food (make it bigger, multiply it…), it can't come out of nowhere. No one can do it. Not even this room – James explained – Does it say anything in there, Remus?

— Nothing. – his friend answered – But well, at least now we know what it does. It appears when it's needed and gives you whatever you ask it for. Tomorrow we'll be able to check it better, and look up something more at the library. It's late already…

— But there's something we haven't discussed yet. – interrumpted Sirius, serious.

— We want help you, Remus. – seconded him James. Their friend's denial was emphatic.

— No

— What do you mean by "no"? – asked the dark-haired boy with glasses, raising his eyebrows.

— No. You can't help me. No one does. There is no cure. You can't do anything for me, Madame Pomfrey takes care of that; she heals my injuries. And when I transform I'm too dangerous to any human being near me.

— By the way, where do you go when you transform? – suddenly asked Sirius, frowning. Remus hesitated before answering.

— To the Shrieking Shack, at Hogsmeade. There's a tunnel that leads to it through the hole under the Whomping Willow... there's a knot, on the trunk. When you touch it, the tree immobilizes. I spend there the full moons.

— You have to stay in there, locked? – the dar-haired boy asked again, with his eyebrows even closer together.

— It's the only safe thing I can do… thus; I don't hurt anyone else, just myself. I've already told you, there's nothing you can do for me.

— We'll figure something out– James assured – but I think you're right; we'd better go to bed now.

The answer came to them a week later.

They were in Transfiguration class, James's favourite, trying to turn some birds into vases, when someone started complaining, which infuriated Professor McGonagall.

— Boring? For God's sake, Mulroney! You say this is boring and you haven't even been able to make your bird change its colour. And you expect to be able to transfigure other animals in "funnier" things, as you call them? What do you want; start studying Animagi and human transfiguration? Well, we were supposed to study that theory next year, though we were going to practice it on seventh. You'll tell me how you do then. But since you are so hurried, instead of next year, we'll study it today.'

— It'd be great to be an Animagus. –Sirius was commenting when they were leaving the class, with extra homework, obviously– Which animal you think you'd be?

— Dunno, I'd like to be a big animal … – James said

— I'd never make it. I suck at Transfiguration – Peter answered grimacing.

— I have enough with transforming into only one animal… – said Remus in a lower voice, who was already learning to start joking a Little about his "condition", as he called it. James and Sirius laughed, but suddenly shut up and looked at each other. They seemed to be thinking the same thing.

— Remus, you say you're too dangerous too _human beings_, don't you? –asked James innocently, emphasizing the words "human beings".

— Obviously – answered his friend, staring at him frowning and puzzled – That's why they lock me…

— But you don't like being locked – intervened Sirius, looking at him in a weird way.

— No… I hurt myself. But it's the only solution. Guys, what...?

— Have you ever hurt something that wasn't human? Let's say… a dog? – James continued, ignoring his friends disconcert.

— Ok, Am I missing something? – Remus inquired, stopping waling. Peter, more lost than him, nodded, staring at the other two.

— Just answer – said Sirius

— Fine… No, I've never hurt a dog. On the contrary, animals are like me, we understand each other in some way, as if they were my frien… – Remus stopped talking and stood with his eyes fixed to a wall for a few seconds, making the connexions in his head.

– ¡NO! – he yelled – You're mad! MAD!

— Remus, don't be silly, can't you see it's a genius idea? – Sirius pacified him, smiling. Remus, somewhat deranged, glared at him.

— I'm leaving! Until you get your ideas straight. Mad! – the lycanthrope kept shouting, waving his arms up in the air while he walked away.

James smiled a little, waited for a few seconds, and making a gesture towards Sirius, he went to look for Remus.

— I'll convince him. You just explain it all to Peter, or his brains might explode for thinking so hard – Sirius laughed out loud when he looked at the boy, who had a hilarious concentration expression on his face.

— Well, look, Petey. I'll explain it to you. – he said, as if he was talking to a two-year-old. – We're gonna transform into Animagi to keep Remus company during full moons. – Peter's face relaxed in understanding, but contracted again when he considered what his friend was telling him.

***fin del flashback***

James chuckled. It had taken weeks to convince Remus, and they had spent as long as they could looking for information about animagi and how to become one of them, but it was really difficult. They had to practice a lot, and it was extremely advanced magic. Besides, they had to do it illegally… But unfortunately, they hadn't made much progress: they needed other books, which they couldn't get from the library, to know all they could before trying anything. Remus wouldn't allow them to even touch their wands if they weren't absolutely sure about how to make it.

The boy sighed again, and after glancing at the book, decided to clear his mind for a while. He stood up, put on his canvas shoes and took his broom before leaving the room absent-mindedly, messing up his black hair.


	4. Chapter 4: The flying lesson

Lily made herself comfortable in the back seat of her parents' car. They were a little late, not only because she had been held up, but also because her mother had insisted, in vain like every year, that Petunia should visit Diagon Alley with them. The girl, of course, had flatly refused to do it.

When the car took off, a gentle breeze came in through the window and messed up Lily's red hair, which she had tied on a high white bow. While she looked with her dreamy green eyes the London landscape they were crossing, her mind started to ramble, remembering her first two years at Hogwarts…

***flashback***

"Come on Lily, it's not that baaad!" Insisted a little girl with curls, pulling strongly the blankets among the ones her friend was hiding. The girl wouldn't give up and kept holding tightly the blankets over her head. Brianna let the sheets go and sighed, flinging herself on her back down into her own bed, holding the sides of her head with her hands. Samantha, who had tied her black hair in a high pony tail, relieved her.

"Lily," she said, serious, standing next to her with her hands on her hips.

No one answered.

"Lily!" … "Lily Evans, you're coming out of bed RIGHT NOW!" she yelled, grabbing the blankets violently and provoking that a skinny redhead bulk fell to the floor, emitting a stifled groan.

"For God's sake, you're awfully strong. There was no need to be so brute…" She murmured while she got up. She looked at the bathroom out of the corner of her eye, but her only escape route was engaged; Mary McDonald, their roommate, was using it.

"Don't even think about it." The tall girl threatened her, with her finger up.

"Come on, Lily," Brianna repeated, imploring, getting up and brushing her robes. "It's just a flying lesson. You are not gonna die." Lily looked at her, skeptical.

"Don't you get kindness doesn't work for her? We've already told her that half of the first year students have never flied, that she won't make a fool of herself, that she won't fall and break her skull… So if she doesn't cooperate we'll have to opt for violence."

Lily sighed resigned, took her clothes and locked herself into the bathroom in order to change, without saying hello to the confused long wavy haired blonde who had just came out of it.

"Don't ask." The two girls said together, making her laugh while she went down the stairs to the Common Room.

Finally, Lily had got dressed and agreed to go to the class, but they hadn't been able to take fear out of her. She had spent the whole week fearing Friday's morning, and now that the day had arrived she was terrified. They went down to the Great Hall but the redhead, despite her friends concern didn't have a bite, despite having the biggest sweet tooth at Hogwarts. They quickly had breakfast and headed to the school grounds.

The three girls were a pretty odd group for those who watched them pass by: a really slight, curly haired brunette, shy and with an attentive look; a skinny temperamental girl, with a gorgeous mane of dark red hair falling on her shoulders and fierce green eyes that contrasted with her slender features; and a tall, graceful girl, with high cheekbones and a dark long hair that couldn't hide a smart, mysterious look.

When they reached the field, a hawk-eyed woman with short grey hair was waiting them next to two dozens of brooms that lied lined up on the floor. When everybody was already there (The Gryffindors shared the class with the Ravenclaws) Madame Hooch, the flying instructor, bellowed:

"Well, what are you waiting for? Everybody stand by a broom, come on, and quickly." with exited whispers, the students did what the professor told them. Lily has shaking from head to toes: she didn't trust at all the old broom on the floor next to her. Actually, she wouldn't have even trusted the brand new Comet: she just didn't believe that an object like that one could lift her from the floor without breaking a few of her bones at the attempt.

"Great, now, stick out your right hand over your broom, and say UP!"

"UP!" Although it sounded as a unanimous shout, some students had said it with extreme confidence, while others, like the terrified redhead, had emitted something more like a incoherent cry. Her broom didn't move, like many others'. Bree's and Samantha's, instead, jumped into their hands at once, like some Ravenclaws' and, of course, like the broom of that jerk with glasses who unfortunately was her housemate. The boy, who was next to her, looked at her with smugness. Lily ignored him: she was too scared to argue, and besides she was too busy listening carefully at the professor explaining how to ride, trying not to miss a single detail and to fix everything in her mind.

"Well, now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. The broom will take off: I want you to rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. One, two, three!" And she blew the whistle.

Samantha, as it was expected, since she had rode a broom several times, was amazing. She was the first one to step on the floor again, really softly and with a lot of style. Madame Hooch congratulated her and she blushed, taking her fringe out of her eyes, pleased. Brianna, despite it being her first time on broomstick did it great too, surprising herself. Some students struggled a little, but finally could handle the broom and go back to the floor, safe and sound. Only a few did it as well as the two Gryffindors, and James Potter was the best but, as it was usual, he couldn't resist showing off a little, and instead of doing what Madame Hooch had told them to, he started making a series of complicated twists several feet from the ground. However, the professor couldn't pay attention to him because another student was out of control.

When she heard the whistle, Lily panicked and kicked the floor with too much strength, like a reflex, and felt, with terror, how the broom gained height at top speed. The girl tried to lean forward, but she couldn't: the broom was going up almost vertically and she couldn't sit up. When she was already reaching 32 feet high, she was able to start leaning, but screamed with surprise and desperation when the broom started nose-diving to the floor. Finally, the object shook violently and she fell.

"Lily!" Brianna screamed, covering her mouth with her hands. Madame Hooch took out her wand in order to try to stop the fall or at least reduce its speed, but she did it seconds too late. The students huddled around the shape of clothes and red hair, trying to see what had happened. James got to his feet and approached too.

"Everybody move!" yelled the professor, making her way through the students. Samantha ducked and brushed the girl's hair out of her face. Lily opened her eyes and by and by she came round. A little stunned, she tried to sit up, but her head started to whirl and Remus Lupin, who was behind her, had to hold her so that she didn't collapse again. Madame Hooch examined her while she screamed with pain when she touched some bones.

"You've broken your arm and ankle. What a weird way of falling…Lupin, take her to the Hospital Wing. Potter, help him." The seriously wounded girl, who was starting to stand up with the help of the amazingly strong Remus, lifted her eyes towards the professor.  
"No, no, not Potter!" She yelled. Hooch looked at her as if the fall had caused her a contusion. The rest of the students looked at her surprised, and James messed up his hair, confused. Before the woman could reply, a tall Ravenclaw with brown wavy hair and light eyes, really suntanned, who looked older than eleven, stepped ahead

"I can help Lupin to take Evans, professor."

"Ok, right, Rivers, take her and go straight to your next class." Madame Hooch accepted, dismissing them with a movement of her hand.

They walked slowly towards the castle; Lupin held strongly her right side, because Lily couldn't move that arm, and Rivers helped her to walk, holding Lily's left arm over his shoulders. The redhead, slightly embarrassed, apologized to them for having to take her to the Hospital Wing. Remus looked at her with a one sided smile, a little amused.

"Are you apologizing for falling and hurting yourself?" He said, and laughed.

"It's fine," The Ravenclaw said, "As a matter of fact, a friend of mine is at the Hospital Wing too, and I'd like to visit her…by the way, my name is Eli Rivers."

"Lily Evans."

Remus didn't know if he was supposed to introduce himself too, but when the boy looked at him he said:

"Remus Lupin."

They spent some minutes in silence. They entered the school and started going up the stairs step by step. They had to stop for a second, as the girl was pale because of the pain. Rivers tucked his hand into his robe's pocket and took out a large chocolate bar. Remus followed it with his eyes: it wasn't a secret that he was a huge chocolate addict. The boy cut two pieces; he gave one of them to Remus, who thanked him surprised, and kept the other one, handing the rest of the bar over to the surprised redhead, who shared the lycanthrope's liking.

"You'll feel better. Chocolate heals almost everything." He said, winking at her.

"Thanks!" Lily said with a wide smile, and then wolfed down an enormous piece of chocolate.

"Evans… may I ask you something?" Eli said frowning, with a smile on his lips, once they had started walking again. Lily looked at him curious and nodded.

"Why didn't you want Potter to bring you to the Hospital Wing?" That seemed to catch Remus' attention, who stopped staring at the floor and looked at them. Lily grimaced slightly and wrinkled her nose, but she was in a better mood thanks to the chocolate, so she answered, circumspect:

"Oh, you know, he is so self-centered, has such a big head I was afraid he would squash me on the way here." Eli and Remus burst into laughter, and the redhead smiled a little, pulling a puppy face.

At the Hospital Wing's door, Remus offered to stay with Lily until she got over.  
"Don't worry, Lupin, you've done a lot for me already. Thanks a lot, but you'll see how they fix this in a matter of seconds." The redhead said, smiling warmly.  
"Besides, I can walk her to class once she recovers, I've already told you I have too visit a friend." Rivers added, shrugging his shoulders.

"Ok, see you, then." said Remus, waving.

As soon as they entered the room, a woman appeared in front of them and begun examining Lily before they could tell her anything.

"What happened to her?" She asked Eli while she touched different spots on the girl's arm.

"She fell off her broom, Madame Pomfrey."

"I always say, first years are way too young to learn how to fly…" The woman muttered, and Lily blushed: she was the only one who had fallen.

Madame Pomfrey forced her to lay down in one of the beds, made her swallow a disgusting potion and made some flourishes with her wand.

"That's it, but lay down for twenty minutes before leaving, to make sure your bones weld properly." She said, and went to see a boy from fifth who had just arrived, whose arms were reaching an alarming length.

"Eeeliiii!" a singsong voice called from the other side of the Hospital Wing. "Is it me or I've just heard your sweet voice?" A beautiful blond girl with catlike eyes and thick lips came running in a little hospital gown and threw herself into the Ravenclaw's arms.  
"Becky, how're you feeling?" the boy answered, smiling.

"Oh, I'm perfectly fine already. Nothing's wrong with me, but Poppy won't let me go until tomorrow… says there still may appear some side effects, but I think she just wants me to stay around, keeping her company." Answered the cheeky girl, playing down its importance with a hand gesture.

"Glad you're better… Tomorrow I'll come pick you up before breakfast, then. Now I have to go, in ten minutes I've got Transfiguration and if I'm late McGonagall will kill me.

"Ohh, come ooon." You can tell Minnie you were here with me, I don't want you to go …" The blonde started pouting, opening her exotic brown eyes, in view of which the boy rolled his eyes.

"Oh! I see you weren't here for me!" She suddenly exclaimed, looking at Lily, who watched the scene quietly from her bed. "And who's this cute little redhead who is with you, huuh, Eli?" She said mischievously, as if the girl wasn't there, half-closing her eyes and elbowing his friends, who rolled his eyes again and pulled a funny face at her.

"She's Lily Evans, she fell at the flying lessons, that's why we are here. Evans, this is Rebecca Moon, a Ravenclaw like me." Lily sat up and shook the girl's hand.

"So you fell, Lily? I can call you Lily, right?" The redhead nodded, a little surprised. "I wish I could have gone to the flying class… I've never been allowed to ride a broom. But you see, Poppy has me locked in here because I got poisoned with some steams in Potions … I was a little distracted and messed it up. Actually, it's Eli's fault, he distracted me, but of course, Mr. Perfect made his potion perfectly. We're friends since we were young, you know? Our families are friends, actually … You said your surname's Evans? It doesn't sound familiar, are your parents muggles? I think I've seen you…You're a Gryffindor, right?"

Rebecca's stream of words was interrupted when two people entered like a gale to the Hospital Wing and threw themselves over Lily.

"Lily! Are you Ok? Madame Hooch wouldn't let us come to see you, she made us wait for the bell to ring…" Brianna begun saying, as Samantha touched different spots on Lily's body asking:

"Does it hurt, Lily? What 'bout there? Isn't the wrist still a little bit swollen?"

The girl managed to get rid of them by assuring them everything was fine.

"If you didn't get so annoying, I would make you suffer until the last bruise was gone, but that is not going to take me off the satisfaction of telling you I TOLD YOU SO." She said, pointing at them with an accusing finger. Her friends smiled and looked somewhere else, but Sam couldn't help saying:

"Well, Lils, now you're Ok, I gotta tell you that, actually, that wouln't have happened if you wouldn't have been so scared. But whatever, you'll never say I'm right."

"Lily stuck her tongue out at them, and then introduced them to Eli, whom she already call by his name, and Rebecca ("Call me Becca, or Becky, girls"), with whom it didn't took long to start conversation.

"Oh, no, it's late already!" Eli yelled startled, waving at the girl and promising he would come back to visit Becca in the afternoon, before he shot off.

"I think we gotta go too." Brianna said. "Nice to meet you, Becky!"

"Oh, how boring… lonely again. You have to come see me later!"  
"Sure, see you!"

***End of flashback***


	5. Chapter 5: Meeting Remus

**_Hey there, here I am uploading the next chapter...it's really short, I've writen more, but that's part of the next chapter, which I promise will be longer!_**

**_If you're reading, I would be really thankful if you could leave me a review... :)_**

***End of flashback***

****Lily began to close the window; they were arriving to the Leaky Cauldron.  
Since that day, the five of them had became close friends, and spent a fantastic first year together. During holidays, they visited Rebecca's country house for a few days, and wrote to each other during the whole summer. Second year was even better than the first one: Sam got the chaser spot in the Gryffindor team (Lily congratulated her, but not without adding: "What a nuisance! You'll have to spend a lot of time with the jerk of Potter, who got the other spot. I bet he'll brag of it for a week") and Eli the Ravenclaw's keeper spot. All of them were surprised Brianna didn't apply: she turned out to be amazing at the sport, but preferred not to attract attention. At the end of that last year, they had said goodbye to each other with a little more nostalgia: it was unlikely they would see each other until September, because Brianna was traveling with her family to Greece, Eli was going to go with his mother, who was a Quidditch correspondent, to see a regional in France, which lasted all summer, and he had invited Sam to go with them; Rebecca was going to Brazil with her aunt; and Lily was staying home. That's why the redhead was really looking forward the school year to begin: she couldn't wait to see her friends!

Besides, the girl really missed another one of her friends: Severus Snape. It was a weird friendship, and the redhead's own friends couldn't understand why she hanged out with that bad-tempered Slytherin. Actually, not many people knew they got along: they didn't see each other in public spaces, not because they hid, but because they just preferred privacy, and not being in everyone's mouth.

The Evans pulled over, went off the car and entered the small bar.

"How do you do, Tom?" Mr. Evans greeted the bar's owner. He knew him because last year they had stayed there for a few days, and he was the one who had taught him how to handle magic currency.

"Great, and you? Buying the school supplies?"

"That's why we are here, so we are in a rush! See you in a while, Tom. "

After tapping three times with the wand the corresponding brick, Lily and her parents went deep into Diagon Alley. The first thing they did was going to Madame Malkin's; the girl had grown so much none of her robes fit her anymore. Once they bought the ones she needed, Mr. and Mrs. Evans decided to go to Gringotts to exchange some _muggle_ currency for magic currency for their daughter, as this year, Lily would be allowed to visit Hogsmeade, one of the few villages inhabited exclusively by wizards and witches, nearby the school.

"If you don't mind, I think I rather keep on with the shopping, that way we won't lose time"

"Fine, then we'll meet in the Leaky Cauldron at six-ish" her father answered, kissing her on the cheek and heading to the wizarding bank.

Once alone, Lily hurried to buy the parchment, the quills and the ink, in order to be able to spend more time at the book shop, her favourite shop. When she entered, Mr. Flourish greeted her with affection: Lily was one of his best costumers, and besides, she was a very sweet and nice girl.

"Lily, dear, long time no see! How are you, ready to start the new year?

"Oh, I am, Mr. Flourish, I really want classes to start, I haven't seen my friends in such a long time… What about you, how are you?

"Great, honey, great. So, tell me, you are in third, right?" the man asked while he started taking books out of the shelves. "These are the books they've been asking me for third year at Hogwarts, for the compulsory subjects." He told her, handing her a pile of books. "But tell me, which are the optional subjects you chose?"

"Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Divination" Lily said, enumerating them with her fingers.  
"Ah, really interesting ones. Let me get them for you; the Runes books are in the back, no one had asked me for one of them…"

"Sorry, sir" called timidly a pale boy they hadn't heard entering "I'll need the Runes book too… you can bring two, so that you don't have to go get it again later…"

The man smiled at him and nodded, disappearing through a little door behind the counter.

"Hi Lupin" Lily said, smiling widely to the boy "Buying the school stuff?"

"Hello, Evans…" he answered, smiling too, looking at the redhead with his tender honey eyes "Yes, I waited until the last minute, 'cause I was… I've been a bit sick.

"Yeah, I can tell, you're a little pale, are you ok?" the girl said, frowning slightly worried.

"Yeah, don't worry" the boy played down its importance with a hand gesture. "So you chose Runes… I was the only one among my friends to do so… What other subjects did you choose?"

"Aritmancy and Divination" Remus raised his brows a little

"Divination? I didn't think you were the kind of person who believed in that stuff, that's all…" the lycanthrope said, smiling a bit at the confusion look in Lily's eyes.

"Well, I had never believed in it before… But I didn't think wizards and witches existed either, and here I am…Then, Divination is not considered reliable in the wizarding world either?"

"Oh, there are people who believe in Divination. And I think there must be real psychics, but most of them are just farce. Anyways, if you end up not liking it, you can always change during the year, and pick another one. You're really smart, it'll be easy for you to learn whatever they had already studied in any other subject, if you decide to quit Divination in the end…" he seemed pretty sure Lily would opt to leave the subject. The girl was surprised the boy seemed to know her so well, and she blushed because of the compliment.

"Here you are, kids" interrupted them Mr. Flourish, appearing behind the counter with several books in his hands. "I brought you the rest of the books too, Lily. Need anything else?"

"Serve Lupin if you want, sir. Meanwhile I'll just walk around a bit, see what I can take home today."

Lily walked away, getting lost among the bookshelves, while the boy's weak voice announced the man he would need the books for Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures. Finally, after rummaging through the shelves for a while, she ended up choosing four books, less than she would have wanted to, but she couldn't stay there eternally. She paid Mr. Flourish, who warmly wished her a happy school year.

The girl went out carrying the heavy bags and looked at her wristwatch. It was five thirty, she still had some time before having to meet her parents… maybe she would go straight to the Leaky Cauldron to drink something while she waited.

"Let me help you with that" the voice startled Lily, who dropped all her books.

"Oh, I'm so clumsy" she murmured, ducking to pick them up.

"Sorry I scared you" Remus said, helping her to collect the books and keeping the heaviest ones. "Before I left, I realized you were gonna go out really loaded, so I thought you might need help."

Lily smiled warmly at him. The boy smiled her back, slightly embarrassed.

"Thanks for waiting for me, Lupin, you shouldn't have bothered"

"Where were you thinking of going now?" the lycanthrope asked while he started walking.

"Actually, I'm done with the shopping. What 'bout you?" answered the redhead, lifting her eyes up to her companion.

"I've finished too. How about I get you an ice cream?" My parents won't come for me until six, they were busy…

"All right, I have until six too. But this time it's on me, to thank you" the girl answered, without giving into Remus's complaints.

They had a couple of huge chocolate ice creams at Florean Fortescue's parlour and chatted happily about their holidays. At six, they headed to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Thanks a lot for everything, Remus" Lily said, smiling once again, and pronouncing with a bit of doubt the lycanthrope's name, as if she was asking him if it was Ok if she called him that way.

"Thanks you for the company, Lily. See you at Hogwarts" the boy answered, waving at her.


	6. Chapter 6: Perks' Friends

**Well, here I come with the next chapter, hope you like it. If anyone is reading this, I would really appreciate a review :)**

****James and Sirius hurried into the train, barely saying goodbye to the former's parents, who had dropped them at the station, and begun to go round the corridors, looking for their friends. The two boys had grown a lot during summer, and when they passed by, they provoked the sighs of many girls who looked at them spellbound. James hadn't grown much in height, but Quidditch had modeled his body, and the long hours flying in his broom under the sun had given his skin a colour that highlighted the two lines of white teeth present in his smile. The look of his pretty hazel eyes, despite the square glasses, would have stopped anyone's heart, and his untidy black hair induced many fantasies in the dazed schoolgirls. Sirius, on the other hand, was a lot taller than last year, but didn't walk awkwardly as any teenager, but with elegance and confidence instead. His naughty grey eyes radiated mischievousness, his bright smile melted the girls, and his jet black, neck-length hair was qualified as sexy by any girl you asked. This year, the two dark-haired boys, who were already known in school for being amazing at everything, were going to start forging their fame as Hogwarts heartbreakers.

Already tired of searching, Sirius stopped in front of a blond second-year from Gryffindor, who opened her eyes widely and pressed her bag against her chest.

"Whassup? Hey… I was wondering if you had seen our friends; Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, two Gryffindors, third-years, you probably know them, they always hang out with us." The boy said calmly, smiling and half closing his eyelids. James messed up his hair and smiled too. Both smiles, really different from each other, were extremely seductive, and would end up being the two marauders' trademark.

"Ah, eh, I…eh" the girl, red as a tomato, was just capable of pronouncing incoherencies" No, I haven't seen them" she managed to say, looking at her friends, who were as speechless as her.

"Oh, ok, thanks anyways" James said, and they said goodbye to them smiling once again.  
While they walked through another carriage, Sirius saw a tall girl with black straight hair entering one of the compartments.

"Look, that girl is our classmate, the Gryffindor team's chaser. She may have seen them.

"Oh, yeah, Perks. Let's ask her." James answered, heading that way.  
When they reached the door of the compartment Samantha had entered, they didn't bother knocking.

"Hi" James said, looking at the girls in the compartment. The small, big-eyed brunette stared at him puzzled with her eyebrows raised, as well as the blonde, whom he didn't remember having seen in the Common Room. Perks, who hadn't sat down yet, scowled at them, and the redhead, who had beautiful eyes, seemed to be enraged. He opened his mouth looking at the Gryffindor chaser, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by the girl he hadn't recognized:

"You're supposed to knock, you know?" she said, tilting her head to one side and looking alternately to the black-haired boys.

"Whatever, we just wanted to know if you had seen our friends. Perks, you probably know who they are, have you seen them?" Sirius said, making a slight gesture towards her with his hand.

"You're really bad-mannered, have they told you so?" the blonde let out again, staring at him indifferently.

"And may I know who you are?" the dark-haired, grey-eyed boy spitted out, slightly annoyed.

"And what does that has to do with anything?" interrupted the redhead, standing up from her seat and glaring at him, irritated with her hands on her hips. "Clear off, Black, and take your friend with you. Your huge egos take up the space in here" The small girl with the curly hair let out a chuckle, and the blonde smiled opening her eyes widely in a fake innocent expression.

"What's going on?" said a soft voice "Well, Lils, the colour red doesn't really suits your skin. It kinda doesn't go with your hair"

A tall, tanned boy make himself room between the annoyed Sirius and James, and entered the compartment.

"What's up?" he greeted them, friendly. The boys looked at him slightly frowning "And you, ladies, already getting into trouble or what?"  
"No one is getting into anything, but this jerks won't go and leave us alone" Rebecca said, clinging to her friend's neck and sitting him next to her. "You know I'm incapable of causing trouble" She blinked repeatedly, saucily, when she said that last words and Eli burst out laughing.

"We would leave if you answered the damn question" Sirius spitted, irritated.

"I know you. You are Rivers, Ravenclaw's keeper, right?" interrupted him James, who had thought about it for a while.

"And how is that important? You can't stop saying nonsense…" Lily repeated, exasperated.

"Yes, Potter, I'm Eli Rivers. Now, what was that that you wanted to ask them?

"We were asking Perks" Sirius answered emphasizing the girls last name "if she had seen Remus or Peter"

"No, I haven't. Goodbye."

"They are three compartmentes to the left from this one" answered the slight brunette when James was already leaving thee compartment. Sirius smiled at her, thankful, and looked at her, curious.

"Thanks, gorgeous"

"Gorgeous?" Sam said, raising her eyebrows while Sirius closed the door.  
The two boys headed to the right compartment and Sirius tugged the door opened, theatrically yelling with his arms opened:

"Iiiickle Remsiee, my boy, long time no see! Peter, for God's sake, how much you've grown!" James entered shaking his head, and smiling he hugged his two friends.  
"We've been looking for you all around the train" the dark-haired boy said, adjusting his glasses once they had already made themselves comfortable. "We were late and arrived at the last minute… Well, that, and the fact that Sirius got distracted flirting with every girl on the train. And pissing some others off."  
"Oh, hark who's talking. And what were those sexy looks you threw to those third year Huffies, then?

"I was boosting unity among houses" James said, which made his friends roar with laughter.  
"Well, Peter, it seems that this year you'll have help to found the Fan Club" Remus said with a half smile, while Peter half closed his eyes. "But what do you mean you pissed somebody off? Don't tell me you already got into trouble, we haven't even arrived to the school!"

"Oh, it's nothing, we were looking for you and Sirius thought about asking Perks, whose terrible temper seems not to be only for the Quidditch matches. And her little friends aren't very nice either.

"Well, I liked that gorgeous little girl with the dark curls. That blonde one is a different kettle of fish…

"Yeah, well, at least the curly haired one didn't have a foul mood... and she was the one who told us where you were." He concluded, looking at Remus and Peter.

"Don't you know their names?" Remus said raising his eyebrows, looking at them a little surprised. "They are not only your classmates, but also your housemates!"

"Even I know who they are" Peter added, shrugging his shoulders with a smile.

"Oh, come on, we do know some of their names. It's just that they are so many in our year! There's Mulroney (that blonde with the short straight hair), Fletcher (that hot brunette), Perks…" Sirius said, counting them with his fingers. Remus looked at him smugly, raising his eyebrows again.

"Oh, and that long haired blonde who is so quiet: McDonald! Yes, yes, McDonald, I used to see her at those business dinners my grandparents made, my parents forced me to go" James added, raising a finger.

"Wow, at the end of the day it'll turn out that the egocentrism they say you have does affect you" Remus laughed, dodging James, who tried to hit him in the head.

"Let's see, Mr. Smart ass, what are the rest of the girls called?" Sirius dared him, with his arms folded.

"The little brunette you all liked so much is Boot, and the redhead, whom you didn't mention but I suppose, was there is Lily, Lily Evans"

"Oh, well, they were just two. Anyone would have thought we forgot twenty names…" said the grey eyed boy, leaning back in his seat.

"Sirius, they have been your classmates for three years. You should know their names"

"Wait, did you call her Lily? Did you call that redhead with a killer instinct by her first name?" James asked, stopping for a second to think about it

"She is really nice, actually. She has a bit of a temper, but I bet you did something to provoke her... She was always kind to me at school, and the other day I met her at Diagon Alley, helped her with her books, and she bought me a thank-you ice-cream." The lycanthrope answered, shrugging his shoulders.

"Remus, you are fraternizing with the enemy!" accused him James theatrically, standing up and pointing at him with his finger. Peter laughed.

"You do exaggerate!" Remus murmured, smiling.

"Hey, wait a sec" Sirius said after some seconds, with one hand in the air "And the crazy blonde? Who was that one?"

"She is not a Gryffindor…" answered the honey-eyed boy, thoughtfull "They're just six, Fletcher and Mulroney, who sleep on their own, and McDonald, Boot, Perks and Lily, in the other room" Remus ignored his friend, still thinking, when he, messing up his hair exclaimed "Would you quit calling her Lily?"

"Aha! You presumed to be all smart and you were missing one" Sirius said smiling, and then sticking his tongue out at him.

"Rivers, the Ravenclaw keeper, was there too" James added

"Ohhh, now I know whom you are talking about! I had forgotten she hangs out with them... She is Moon, a Ravenclaw.

"Well, she is nuts" said Sirius, as if that had something to do with anything, settling the matter and starting to talk about Quidditch.


	7. Chapter 7: About friendship and support

**_Well, here I come with chapter 7... it's a bit boring maybe, not much happens... but htink of it as some kind of introduction to whats coming... Hope you enjoy, and critiques and comments are welcome :)_**

**__** "Gorgeous?" Sam said raising her eyebrows, while Sirius closed the door. "God! I know they're really good-looking, but that doesn't give them the right to walk around as if they owned the world.

Lily looked at her as if she had announced she was going to kill someone.

"WHAAAT?" she yelled, in such a dramatic way that Eli started laughing out loud.

"Oh, come on, Lily" Rebecca said, looking at her "They might be the most stupid and arrogant beings on Earth, but they are super hot, we have to admit it" The redhead's face, formerly surprised, expressed anguish, even agony. Brianna laughed, joining the boy for some seconds, who, when apparently was about to stop, had raised his eyes and, seeing Lily's expression, had started again.

"Lily, they're right. You have to be blind not to see it: they've come back truly good-looking from summer; though more self-centered, of course" Bree admitted, looking at her friend, whose terrified expression became accentuated when she noticed she had lost her last ally.

"But they are Potter and Blaaack" she yelled, moving her hands up and down "Eli, stop laughing now!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lils" he said, getting suddenly serious "But the hotties Black and Potter have been in our compartment! How exciting!" that last phrase made him deserving of a stamp, courtesy of the redhead.

"Lily, don't be so annoying. Yes, they are hot, though you're never gonna admit it, but they're still the Marauders, as they call themselves (by the way, what a stupid nickname), and we know they are just some spoiled, helpless idiots." Sam said, sighing, getting the redhead to sit down, truly circumspect and with a miffed expression, on the seat.

"The Marauders… ha, I thought that at ten years old one stops using stupid nicknames" Becca smiled in a sardonic way.

"Actually, not all the Marauders are that bad…" Lily commented, already calmed, shrugging one shoulder. The expression of every one of her mates was worthy of being remembered: they had all stopped moving, their eyes wide open staring at the girl. Becca even opened the mouth a little. Eli, who after the surprise had decided to take it as a joke, had stood up with fake concern, touching the redhead forehead with the back of his hand.

"Nope, it's not temperature"

"Lily, you're kidding, right?" Brianna asked in a tone that showed that wished she was.

"No, I'm not kidding… I mean, the dynamic duo is the most arrogant and unbearable pair on the face of Earth; Pettigrew, well, he has neither brains nor personality, and he worships Potter and Black, but Remus is nice, and seems to be good person.

"And how do you know?" Samantha asked raising her eyebrows. "I mean, it's clear he is not like the other two; he doesn't go strutting around attracting attention despite having excellent marks, being a Marauder – she said that last word making air quotes– and everything else but, how do you know he is nice and a good person? And since when have you called him "Remus"?"

"He's always been nice to me" Lily said, shrugging her shoulders "I met him at Flourish & Blotts, we talked for a while… And well, when I went out the bookshop he was waiting for me, cause he saw I was gonna go out really loaded, and he wanted to help me. He wanted to buy me an ice-cream, but I bought them, to thank him. He is really nice, and besides he is intelligent and interesting. A good boy." The redhead concluded. Rebecca half closed her eyes and smiled mischievously.

"Ohhh, Lils liiiikes Luuuupin" she said, naughty, sticking Lily's shoulder with her finger and giggling. Samantha burst out laughing and began bothering her too.

"How childish you are! Remus is my friend, do I like Eli too, who is my friend, interesting, fun, and a good person?"

"Sure, but Lupin has his stuff too" Brianna said, as if it was obvious "Despite always being so pale, and one gets used to the idea of him being skinny and weak, he actually has great muscles and a couple of golden eyes to die for."

"Are you insinuating I'm not attractive?" Eli said, pretending to be miffed.

"Oh, come on cutie, you know you're the man in my life" the girl answered, looking at him intensely with bedroom eyes.

"You are really hot too, Eli, you don't have to be jealous of the Marauders" Lily said, getting closer to him and smiling seductively. "All sun tanned, with those huge light blue eyes and your perfect smile. And that beautiful bum of yours!" concluded the redhead, flinging herself into the boy's arm, who struggled not to laugh.

"Hey, that man is mine!" Rebecca yelled theatrically, jumping on her friend and starting tickling her.

"Sam, I better come here with you, you're the only normal" the boy ended up saying, sitting next to the Gryffindor chaser, who was laughing too, and putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Well, he's dumped us for another woman" Brianna said with her hands on her face, pretending she was crying.

"John Tucker must die!*" the redhead yelled with her closed fist in the air. Everyone else laughed: they had made a muggle films marathon a year ago at Rebecca's place, cause Lily had brought loads of them.

They continued talking for a while, until the redhead begun complaining about everything, moodier and moodier. It didn't take long to figure out the reason: she had forgotten her food and chocolate supplies. When the food trolley lady arrived, they literally had to hold the girl so that she didn't jump on the scared woman.

"Oh, God, I don't know what we are going to do to take this nutcase out of Honeydukes when we go there. We'll miss the rest of the visit because of her" Sam commented staring at her. Once they had bought all they wanted, Lily had devoted her time to wolfing it down without pronouncing a word, and then laid down on the seat with her eyes closed and a satisfied smile on her face.

"Maybe she'll want to go with Lupin and abandon us" Becca said casually "But you'll have to eat a little more delicately, we don't want him to get scared.

Lily opened an eye to look at her irritated.

"I said Lupin is my friend…" she murmured

"I think that if they go to Honeydukes Lupin won't care much about how Lily eats. Haven't you seen how he's always eating chocolate, as if it was the sweetest ambrosia?" Eli said chuckling and ignoring the girl.

"Lupin is my FRIEND" Lily repeated

"Oh, how sweet are their Valentine's Days going to be. They will become balls from eating so many chocolates" Samantha added with a mushy look.

"Breee!" the redhead demanded, looking imploring at her friend, who laughed.

"That's enough, kids, or she's gonna have a nervous breakdown"

Shortly afterwards they arrived to the castle. It was already night time and by then, Lily was hungry again, so she lead the procession to the Great Hall.

...  
"Well I think we should better just leave it alone" Remus was saying while he got into the carriage, apparently pulled by invisible beings.

"Well I think you should better shut up and stop bothering" Sirius answered, flopping down in front of the lycanthrope.

"But…" the boy protested, inhaling impatiently.

"Remus, you know we won't listen to you" Peter interrupted, sitting next to him. When he saw Lupin opened his mouth to reply, James sat next to Sirius and made him a gesture with his hand so that he paid attention to him.

"Look, Remus" he said serious, looking at him in the eye. The lycanthrope slightly raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised. James, hand in hand, rested his elbows on his knees slightly leaning forward, and without losing his seriousness, continued "We are your friends; you are the best friend we could have. You really think we would abandon you; we would leave you to your fate? (No, don't interrupt me). We already know that until now, you've managed the whole thing on your own, and we truly admire you, Remus. You've suffered a lot, you've held on all alone, and you don't deserve it. You are an exceptional person, and the three of us thank having met you. You have to let us be your friends, you have to let us get close to you, and you have to let us try to help you. Although you seem to believe the contrary, you deserve to be happy. And we will help you: we will always be by your side, Remus. And that implies us transforming into Animagi. We are more than willing to do it. The three of us. So stop trying to persuade us: we are not gonna abandon you.

Remus was speechless. A tear ran down his cheek, but he quickly dried it with the robe's sleeve. James kept looking at him in the eye with determination. The boy gave a honey coloured look at Sirius, whose grey eyes were just as decided as his friend's. Then, he looked t Peter and perceived the same strength in that little boy who was the most insecure person he had ever known. He hadn't just made friends when he arrived to Hogwarts: he had found his brothers. He couldn't believe it: after all he had had to go through, after all the suffering; fate had showed him he wasn't alone. He didn't have to suffer alone. He had the best people he could imagine by his side.

"Thank you" he said, and nothing else was necessary.  
Shortly afterwards they arrived to the castled, and talking animatedly they joined their classmates around the Gryffindor table to attend the Sorting Ceremony before the welcoming feast.

Dinner was pretty lively, although once it finished, Dumbledore, after the usual welcome to the new students, said some words about the attacks, every day more recurrent, to the_ muggles_ and _muggleborns_, and about how important it was to stick together in moments like that.

While they headed towards the Common Room, Brianna and Samantha couldn't help noticing their friend was slightly gloomy; she walked along, head bowed and thoughtful, and the corners of her mouth, usually on the verge of a smile (when her temper wasn't into action, of course), were lightly twisting downwards.

"Lily? Are you ok?" Bree asked, worried, trying to look her in the eye.

"What?" answered hr friend, raising her eyes and slightly shaking her head, as if she was driving away a thought from it.

"I asked you if you were ok, Lils" repeated the girl, slightly frowning.

"Oh, yes, of course, perfectly ok"

"I don't buy that" murmured almost inaudibly Sam, giving her a reproachful look.

"Come on, I'm fine. I was just thinking… about what Dumbledore said. You know, about the muggles." James, some steps away from them, turned his head towards them, stopping paying attention to Peter, who was relating his holidays.

"Oh, honey, it's understandable that you're scared, it is awful what that Lord Voldemort is doing, but you don't have to worry. You're at Hogwarts" Brianna calmed her down. James kept listening, curious.

"Actually, I was more worried about my parents, and Petunia. They are not protected and, I don't know, with everything that's going on…" even though the redhead tried to hide it, her friends noticed her wet eyes. Sirius tried to call James attention, but the dark-haired boy was still listening attentively the other conversation.

"Oh, Lils! You'll see soon everything will be over. The Ministry will take care of it: the Aurors are great at their job." Sam said, holding her hand and squeezing it affectively.  
When they reached the Fat Lady portrait, Lily was already calmed, but very tired, so they quickly headed to their room.

"Was something wrong with you, James?" asked Sirius once in the room, taking off his socks sitting on the bed.

"Huh?"  
"You were a bit distracted today…" commented Remus perfectly folding his clothes and putting them into his trunk.

"Oh, that. I was thinking about what Dumbledore said…" Sirius face darkened "About all that _muggles_ and _muggleborns_… it's awful and inhuman. I've heard people say that Aurors will soon take care of it, but…" Sirius emitted a skeptical noise

"They won't stop him so easily. Voldemort is getting stronger, and he's not alone. He is getting more and more followers, his loyal Death Eaters." He said.

"How can you be so sure" Remus asked with a cautious look. Sirius gave him a sad look and smiled bitterly.

"I'm a Black, remember? Toujours pûr.** My family thinks that what that lunatic is doing is fine, and expect me to believe the same thing. I know what happens around that murderer.

"Your parents…they are…Death Eaters?" Peter asked slightly frightened.

"No, but they're nearly there. I'm sick of them already; before, I just saw it as a stupid blood-cleaning obsession. But now it's way more serious. They are murdering people and my family agrees with it.

"You are not like them, Sirius" James said serious, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder. Sirius raised his eyes, surprised. His friend had read his mind.

"Whether I like it or not, I'm a Black, and as my mother constantly reminds me, their blood runs through my veins. Pure blood, she would say, but for me, it's the opposite…

"And that's what matters. You think differently" James interrupted him vehemently.

"I've heard Dumbledore say that our choices are what show what we truly are. You didn't choose to be born in that family, but you can choose to fight against their ideas" said Remus wisely. Sirius looked at him thankful.

"You know you can always count on us, Sirius" Peter added _(a/n: stupid liar rat, I get pyromaniac when I think of him, but well, I can't erase him from the story, and despite everything, at the beginning he was their friend – or at least he pretended to– so I guess sometimes he expressed them his support)_

"Thanks, guys" the dark-haired boy said, slightly smiling. "Oh, you're gonna make me cry!" his friends rolled their eyes: the day Sirius could keep serious for more than fifteen minutes, he would break a personal record.

...

*John Tucker must die; it's a movie where three girls, all John Tucker's ex-girlfriends, join to make a girl break John's heart, as a revenge.

**Toujours pur: Always pure (or forever pure, Im not sure), the Black family "motto"


	8. Chapter 8: Severus

**_Chapter 8 up :) Enjoy! (Though I love Sev, I'm completely pro James/Lily, but I also love Sev and Lils' friendship, you know, before the Worst Memory incident)_**

**_Just to…know. Is anybody reading this?_**

**__**A light but persistent knock on the window ended up waking the girl up, who slept peacefully tucked in with the covers. The redhead, still half asleep, sat up and took her messy hair out of her face with one hand, drawing the heavy scarlet canopy away from the bed with the other. Perched on the window ledge, she could see the responsible for the noise: a small black and grey feathered owl, tapping the glass with her claws and holding a folded piece of parchment in her beak. The girl recognized it immediately and jumped out of the bed. Trying not to make noise, she opened the window letting in the little animal, which flapped its wings, cheerful, happy to be inside.

"Shh, be quiet, _Prince_" she whispered, stroking gently his head while removing the crumpled note. The owl hooted, pleased, and as an answer received a string of insults just fairly intelligible, courtesy of Samantha, whose disheveled head was visible among the blankets. Lily unfolded the note and smiled. The tight and familiar handwriting said:

_Lils, see you in five at the Entrance Hall. S.S. _

The girl quickly got dressed, put on her shoes and taking her rucksack left the room brushing her hair, with the little animal following her closely, flying over her head. She went down the stairs speedily but trying to be silent. Anyhow, the Common Room was empty; it was still too early. The redhead carelessly threw the brush on one of the armchairs and hurriedly left through the portrait hole. It wasn't typical of her to be so untidy, but it was just that she really wanted to see him, she had missed him a lot that summer. She went through the corridors in a rush, going down two steps at a time until she reached the majestic marble staircase that led to the Entrance Hall. From there, she could see a skinny and gawky boy, with dark, badly cut and slightly dirty, neck-length hair. He was standing with his back to her, observing withconcentration a portrait of a soppy-looking witch standing on a meadow. Lily carefully went down the stairs and stepped carefully on the floor so that he didn't hear her coming, but she failed to do ir: when she was half-way there, he turned around. He had sallow skin and a hooked nose, and his inscrutable black eyes could be terrifying, but in that moment reflected an affection unconceivable for a character like him, just as his wide smile, which softened his features. Lily smiled from ear to ear and threw herself into his arms, putting her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. He awkwardly patted the girl's back and his cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Sev, I'm so glad to see you!" the redhead said effusively, moving apart and looking at him in the eye, still smiling. "I've missed you terribly this summer!"

"I missed you too, Lils" he answered in a soft, mellow voice. The owl, which had followed Lily downstairs, alighted on his shoulder. Severus tucked his hand in his pocket and extracted a candy for the bird, who took it with his beak and flew away, heading to the Owlery. "I see you've received the note _Prince_ took you." The owl had been a gift from the redhead for his last birthday, and she had named it herself. "I know it's too early, but I wanted to see you before classes started…"

"It's not early at all" she said, stifling a yawn. The boy gave a hint of a crooked smile. "I really wanted to see you too; I didn't have a chance to look for you at the train. How was your summer? Honestly, I'm glad you were able to stay away from your house those two months… and you must have learned a lot! I want you to tell me everything, the letters weren't enough."

"Yeah, it was good to be away from home for a while" he murmured, looking at her. He had never talked about it with anyone else: Lily was the only person he could trust. He ran his dark eyes over the girl's mottled face: the delicate jaw bone, the soft curve of the mouth, her bright green eyes. "And I truly had a good time; I've got a lot to tell you. But not now, now you tell me about your summer" he requested. It had been a long time since he had heard the sound of her voice, of her laugh, and he needed it. He had been the whole summer in Ireland, for a Training about Strange and Dangerous Potions with Professor Slughorn. Actually, the man had invited Lily, but she had politely rejected the proposal with some excuse, suggesting Severus instead, who anyways would have been the Professor's second choice. But the redhead, despite having no plans at all for the summer, had opted for taking that decision cause she knew her friend needed it more than her, but of course, she didn't say it.

"What do you want me to tell you?" asked Lily, shrugging her shoulders and pulling her friend by his hand as she walked towards the heavy oak doors. "Not much happened, actually. The rest of my mates were out of the country, so I just stayed home. Obviously, Petunia still ignores me; and my parents are perfectly fine…" she was saying while she opened the doors and went out to the grounds, jumping over the entrance's steps. Severus just watched her; the only moment you could see him that vulnerable was when he was with the girl.

"Maybe I should've stayed" he said, slightly crooking his mouth and following Lily, who walked cheerful.

"But, what are you talking about?" she said, turning around to look at him while she kept walking, backwards. That made the boy smile. "Of course not! I'm truly glad you went, and we'll have time to catch up later" Severus smiled and hugged her. Lily was a bit surprised; that kind of spontaneous gestures weren't typical of her friend, but she hugged him back and smiled widely. "That's what I like to see" They kept walking slowly in the grounds and talking animatedly. When they passed by the Gamekeeper's hut, he waved at them effusively from inside the house, his small and kind eyes, barely visible through the tangle of hair and beard, reflected he was smiling. He was really fond of the redhead. Severus looked at her while she waved the man back: of course he was fond of her, everybody was. She was charming, sweet and an amazing person.

"What d'you have on your first period?" the boy asked, taking out his own timetable out of the robes' pocket.

"Charms. What 'bout you?"

"Transfiguration…"

"Oh, I was expecting we would be together in our first class. I hadn't seen you for such a long time!" she said, pouting to make Severus laugh.

"I don't think your friends would've liked that"

"My friends have absolutely no problem with you" the redhead stated. Snape looked at her, skeptical. "Well, they don't think you're the most charming human being on Earth, and they don't really understand our friendship, but they have no problem with me hanging out with you…The ones who might mind are your friends" she said those last words creasing her nose and looking away.

"My…friends… don't…" the boy started to say.

"Don't worry, Sev. I already know what they think about me, and about the people who are like me. But I don't care. What I care about is that you don't think the same thing" she interrupted him, holding his hand and looking at him in the eye. Snape got serious.

"You know I don't think that about you" the redhead smiled and kissed him on the cheek, and then let his hand go and started running towards the castle.

"Let's see who gets there fiiiirst!" she yelled, laughing.

"That ain't fair!" he said, laughing too and running after her. No one who knew Severus Snape would believe that scene even if they had seen it with their own eyes. But that was the effect Lily Evans had on him: she brought out the best out of the unsociable and surly boy everybody knew.

"I won" said Lily panting and sticking out her tongue at him. Severus laughed, shaking his head and entering the castle behind the girl.

"It's time for breakfast…" she said, glancing at her watch.

"Yeah…" he answered, walking next to her towards the Great Hall where, judging by the noise, there were already some students. "See you later, Lils" and they both entered, heading to their table, on opposite ends of the hall.


	9. Chapter 9: She is not normal

**_Well, I haven't get any reviews since chapter 3, so I guess no one is reading. If someday, someone reads the story, please review me! Even if it's five years from now, it would be nice to know somebody read this..._**

"There they go Evans and Snivellus" James murmured absentmindedly with his head on one hand.

The four friends where sitting at the Gryffindor table, but Sirius and Peter were too busy wolfing their breakfasts down to pay attention to him. Remus, sitting next to him, looked at him suspiciously.

"You've learnt Lily's name" he said, half closing his eyelids. The dark-haired boy looked at him through the glasses, raising his eyebrows in an expression of boredom.

"You always knew it, right? Hers, and the rest of the girls' too" the lycanthrope accused him. James smiled sideways, looking at the graceful redhead who walked towards the table.

"Yeah, I did" he admitted, "I'm not that self-centered, Remus" the boy let out a chuckle "Well, ok, I am, but not enough to not know my classmates' names. Besides, it's impossible not to notice Evans" his friend grinned.

"Oh, yeah?" he said, and then gave a disgusted look to the other two boys who, sitting in front of them, ate oblivious to the conversation in a way that anyone would have described as savage.

"Not just because she's pretty, you idiot" James answered rolling his eyes and smiling, "In the classes, she does everything fine, she answers perfectly to all the questions, professors adore her. It wouldn't surprise me if Slughorn kept a picture of Evans under his pillow. It would be _impossible _not to know her name, even if I tried to. Besides, I knew Boot too, even though she is quite shy.

"And Sirius too, didn't he?" asked the boy, shaking his head with a smile on his face.

"Sure he did. But don't tell him, he'll accuse me of ruining his reputation"

Remus laughed and continued with his breakfast, snatching a toast to the grey-eyed, dark-haired boy. James casted an eye over the redhead again who was sitting a few feet away, talking to her friends animatedly. Until then, he hadn't paid more attention than normal to her, that is, his relationship with that group consisted mainly of exchanging some words, to be polite, at the Common Room or during a class. They had also played some or other innocent joke on them, of course, but he couldn't say he knew them that much, except for Perks, who was in the Quidditch team. And, oddly, they didn't seem to be interested in the Marauders either. And it was even stranger the fact that Evans hanged out with Snape; James knew, like a few in the school, that they were friends. He even remembered seeing them talking in their first year as if they already knew each other. He wasn't sure why, but it bothered him a bit that she was more interested in hanging out with that Slytherin than with the Marauders. Thinking about Snape activated the part of the brain reserved for their jokes.

"What do you think about pulling a welcoming prank?" he suddenly said looking at his friends.

Lupin sighed and raised his eyes to heaven, but didn't try to discourage them. Peter clapped enthusiastically and Sirius exclaimed:

"Exshellent idea!" when he said this, he sprayed all over Remus and James a bunch of wet particles that his friends preferred not trying to identify.

"SWALLOW, Sirius" asked Remus, cleaning his face with the robes' sleeve.

"I'm shorry" the dark-haired boy answered, doing what they had requested him. "I thought you'd never ask, Jamie darling!" he said, taking out the wand of his pocket.

His friend smiled mischievously, staring at the Slytherin table.

"Explosive food? It's not too much, so that Remus doesn't complain about it…" the boy suggested.

"Perfect" said Sirius, smiling.

With identical wand movements, James and Sirius whispered something unintelligible pointing at the snakes' plates.

"Ohh, no…" murmured Remus with his eyes wide open, rubbing his hand through his hair, "I think you made a miscalculation…"

"But, what are you talking about? Everything is coldly calculated, they'll just end up covered with food; we are not going to blow anyone's head up." Sirius answered with his eyes glued to the Slytherin table, in which the food had started to bubble almost imperceptibly. Remus raised his wand in order to avoid the catastrophe, but James stopped him.

"Come on, Remus, it's not such a big deal, they won't even know it was us" he said, patting his back. "Four, three…"

"Can't you see McGonagall is…!" Remus started saying while James continued with the countdown.

"Zero!"

It wasn't exactly an explosion, but the sound the food made when it blew up was loud enough to make the whole Great Hall speechless. Sirius had started to laugh in a low voice with watery eyes and his hands on his stomach. James's smile, on the other hand, had immediately disappeared from his face. Peter, with his eyes wide open, poked softly Sirius's shoulder, but he didn't notice. Remus seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. When the grey-eyed boy realized anyone else was laughing (which was weird, especially if the joke was aimed at the Slytherins) he sat up straight on his seat and looked cautiously to the other side of the room. All the snakes were covered with whatever was close to them at the moment of the prank, but curiously, any of them was yelling with rage nor running to the bathrooms to clean themselves up. The boy casted his eyes on the rest of the table and went pale: right next to Nott, covered with what appeared to be raspberry jam, pumpkin juice and a whitish, unidentifiable substance, was Professor McGonagall, livid, with her lips so tight that were white and her nostrils flaring with fury.

The silence probably lasted just a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity.

"Potter and Black, I expect you in my office this afternoon after class" she hissed. It was clear that she was furious.

The woman waved her wand and after a second the Slytherin students and herself were impecable. Only when Professor McGonagall's steps' echo couldn't be heard from the Great Hall, the absolute silence broke: many students laughed enthusiastically, several prefects murmured disapprovingly, and all the Slytherins yelled insults at them, but didn't dare to do anything else in front of the rest of the teachers.

"Well" said Sirius, "It wasn't exactly what he had planned, but it was great" Remus looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

"Oh, ok. Covering McGonagall with crap and earning the worst punishment of your lives has been great." He said with a half smile.

"It's been amazing" James answered, smiling, "Look how everybody is laughing, and look at the snakes' faces"

"Besides, Remus, don't exaggerate, it'll certainly be a tough one, but I don't think it'll be as much as the worst punishment of our lives… We've been on detention millions of times, remember?" Sirius added

"You covered Minnie with food, it certainly will be the worst punishment ever" said a voice behind the dark-haired boy. The Marauders looked up to find a beautiful Ravenclaw blonde. "But it has been great; I had a hard time trying not to laugh when I saw McGonagall's face"

James smiled and bowed his head theatrically while Peter clapped his hands again.

"Oh, so you've liked it, uh, blondie? I imagine you regret being so stroppy to us on the train" said Sirius, looking at her snot-nosed.

Rebecca's catlike eyes expressed annoyance, but an amused smiled appeared on her face.

"Moon, Black, my name is Moon. I still think you are a couple of egocentric, spoilt prats – the lycanthrope couldn't help chuckling at that comment, getting a killer glance from the grey-eyed boy – but I can laugh at a good joke. Good luck with McGonagall" the girl wished them, walking away with an involuntary swinging of her hips and then starting to chat with Lily and the rest. Sirius glared at her and muttered:

"Uff, that blonde is insufferable"

"Then you can stop staring at her arse, Sirius" James joked, winning a pretty strong blow in the neck.

"Stop arguing already, and let's go, it's getting late" Remus asked, standing up and puting his rucksack on his shoulder "You don't want _another _detention"

"Pff, ok, let's go, we got Flitwick" James answered in a bad mood, standing up too and rubbing his head with one hand.

The four boys crossed the Great Hall at a quiet pace, just making small talk. When they were by the door, Peter tripped, giving Remus a smack in the face while he fell, looking for something to grab. The lycanthrope took a step back with a hand on his face, but accidentally trod on someone's foot, who tried to remove her feet provoking that both of them fell to the floor on their backs. Sirius burst out laughing looking at the jumble of arms and legs that were Remus and the unfortunate redhead who was passing by behind them at the moment of the accident.

"Are you ok?" asked the sweet Bree, who couldn't help smiling when, looking up, she saw Becca and Eli gesturing to her from the Ravenclaw table, reminding her about the conversation topic on the Hogwarts Express. Luckily, she was the only one who paid attention to them, because they weren't being subtle at all. She told herself to remember bothering Lily about it later.

Samantha, laughing a bit too, had stretched her arm towards the confused honey-eyed boy to help him stand up. James wanted to help Lily, who glared at his hand and rose on her own, rubbing her bum.

"Oh, Lily, I'm so sorry, did I hurt you?" asked the lycanthrope, worried.

"It's fine, Remus, I'm ok" the redhead answered with a smile.

"You, midget, are terribly clumsy!" joked Sirius looking at Peter, who blushed.

"I'm sorry Remus, Evans"

"Don't worry" the redhead tranquillized him, making a hand gesture as she lifted her bag. The girls retook their way while Peter kept stammering apologies to his friend.

"What problem does Evans have with me?" asked James, annoyed, frowning at the girls.

"Do the words prat, egocentric and spoilt ring any bells?" Sirius asked, patting his back

"Well, but you are all that too and she doesn't hate you that much" the dark-haired boy answered, ignoring his friend's complaint.

"Ah, but that's cause I'm irresistible"

"Oh, shut it, Sirius, stop bragging" James answered rudely, getting into a huff.

In spite of Remus's protests, Sirius kept bothering James all the way to the Charms classroom. When they got there, the only ones there were the three girls and Mary McDonald, who had said goodbye to her Hufflepuff friends and sat next to them.

Sirius entered, heading towards their usual places at the back of the class, but James sat determined behind Samantha, flopping the books loudly on the desk. Lily, sitting on the black-haired girl's left, slightly turned her head and gave him an apathetic look, and then kept talking to her friends. The boys, a bit surprised, stood in the center of the room without knowing what to do. Finally, Remus, smiling mysteriously, sat on James's left, behind the redhead. Sirius, frowning, sat on the other side of the boy with glasses, staring at him inquisitively, and Peter rushed to follow them, placing at the right of the grey-eyed, dark-haired boy. Mary, sitting right in front of the sand-haired boy looked at them, curious, and Brianna, with suspicion, slightly moved her seat away from Sirius's, sitting behind her.

The class developed as usual, with any kind of mishap, because that day they had a theoretical lesson. Sirius was puzzled about James's behaviour, who spent the whole class with a grumpy face, staring at Lily's nape. Finally, the dark-haired boy resigned himself, leaning back on his seat, irritated cause his friend wouldn't pay attention to his pranks proposals. When time was up, the Marauders were the last ones to leave the room.

"May I know what the hell is wrong with you, James?" Sirius asked as they left the class.

"He's mad because Lily doesn't pay attention to him" answered Remus, smiling mockingly.

"In fact, she seems to hate him" added the chubby boy.

"Shut it, Peter" said James, messing up his hair with one hand.

"Who cares about Evans? Her friends ignore us too. They are abnormal" Sirius said shrugging his shoulders. James sighed.

"You're right. It's not normal that they're not interested in the Marauders" he said, nodding.

"Oh, Merlin, can we go to our next class now? Before your big heads can't go through the doors" the lycanthrope requested, rolling his eyes.


	10. Chapter 10: Divination

Hello everyone!  
Sorry it took me so long to update, but I'm back on College and haven't had much time...

I hope you like this chapter, and just so that you don't get lost, here I leave you the Gryffindor's schedule (Eli and Becca have different schedules) About subjects like Arithmancy, that not all of them attend, the students who don't have a free period there. You'll see later who choose what)And remember that in the middle they have the meals and stuff:

**Monday: Charms - DADA- Div/mugg - Aritm - Herbol  
Tuesday: Potions- Potions - Runes- CMC - History - Astronom  
Wednesday: Transfig - Div/Mugg - Aritm - DADA - Charms  
Thursday: Charms - Transfig - Herbol - Runes - CMC  
Friday: DADA - Potions - Transf - History - (free p.) - Astronom  
**

Tell me what you think! (Answers to the reviews at the end of the Chapter :))

...

"He's so damn unbearable" the redhead complained gesturing with her hands.

The three Gryffindors talked standing on the marble stairs with Eli and Becca, who was crouching next to her rucksack, rummaging through it looking for who knows what. They had just had lunch and they were whiling away the time, waiting for their next class. Throughout the morning, James had behaved like he did on Charms class, which had ended up irritating Lily.

"Er… Lils, technically, he didn't do anything" Brianna said, looking at her out of the corner of her eye.

"He didn't do anything?" asked the girl giving her friend a withering look.

"Come on, Bree, be realistic" added Sam, who was already tired of listening to Lily's complaints, but also fed up with Potter, "It's true he didn't do anything, but there must be a reason why he has been following us all around and staring at Lily as if he wanted to drill a hole in her skull."

"I think you're just being pretty intolerant" insisted the little brunette.

"Well, you'll tell me later what you think about falling for the prank Potter is planning for me"

"As long as you don't cheat on Lupin with Potter, all's fine" Eli said with an evil smile. Rebecca burst out laughing and stood up, putting her bag on her shoulder and shaking her hair naturally, which flooded the air with an intense and sensual perfume. Eli rolled his eyes when a fifth year Gryffindor who was passing by ran into a column because he was gaping at the blonde.

"Eli..." warned Bree, amused, fearing for Lily's mental health, whose infuriated expression showed perfectly well what she thought.

"Well, I don't mind she's with whoever she wants to, except for Black" Becca commented casually, "Shall we go now?"

"I didn't choose Muggle Studies" answered Lily, "I have Divination, so I'll see you later"

"Are you free after Divination?" asked Brianna glancing at her timetable

"No, we have Arithmancy" answered Eli with his own timetable in his hand, "And then we got Flitwick, Bec" he added, looking at t his mate.

"Oh, we have Herbology on the last period" said Sam twisting her mouth in a bored expression "So we'll get to be all together only when classes end."

Once Lily had said goodbye to head to her class, the four friends entered the empty room.

"I bet you anything that she won't last more than two months in that class" Samantha commented, leaving her things on the first desk and sitting on the table.

"You think? Lily _is _a bit skeptical, but maybe she'll grow to like it…" Brianna said settling next to her.

"I doubt it" contradicted her Eli, sitting on Sam's chair and starting to plait her hair absent-mindedly. "For what I've heard, Professor Pitia isn't a real psychic, and her clases are quite monotonous… And even if she was a real psychic (obviously a bad one, if people suppose she is a farse), McGonagall herself says Divination is an imprecise branch of magical study. And I think our Lilyflower doesn't really like imprecise stuff.

At that moment, the Marauders entered the classroom, and Sam couldn't help snorting. But there was something odd in it: they weren't four, but three boys instead.

"Where's Potter?" asked Rebecca, surprised, "Lupin, you have to tell me what did you do to separate him from Black, we've got a little more air when there's just one self-centered git per room."

"Sure, we've got enough with you" Sirius counterattacked. The boy was beginning to think the blonde had something against him.

Once everyone had sat down, Eli asked again:

"Seriously, what happened to Potter? Is he at the Hospital Wing or something?"

"No, nothing happened to him" said Remus, smiling because of the fact everybody assumed James had gotten into trouble, "There has just been a slight mistake with the timetables…"

"They've assigned him a subject he hadn't asked for instead of Muggle Studies. He argued with McGonagall for a while" said Sirius vaguely, concentrated on throwing small balls of crumpled parchment to Rebecca. Bree, sitting next to him, couldn't help laughing. The dark-haired boy looked at her with a mischievous smile and gave her a handful of little balls.

"Yeah, he should've shut up… When McGonagall told him to go to the first class and that she was going to take care of it, James begun insisting and ended up pretty much irritating her. I suspect she'll make him put up with a few Divination classes before letting him come to this one" Remus added.

"Divination?" asked the four friends all together, bursting into laughter in front of the disconcerted Marauders. If they hadn't got it wrong, their friend was going to have another reason to leave the subject.

...

Once she had said goodbye to her friends, the redhead headed at a quick pace towards the North Tower. She thought she knew the way, but she had ended up getting lost, even though she wasn't sure it was her fault, Peeves' (who had forced her to take another corridor in order to try to escape from the uncovered ink-wells that levitated above her head), or this "Sir Cadogan" person's, a terribly pompous knight whose portrait hanged at the seventh floor. When she found her way back, the girl glanced at her wrist-watch and started running: she was late. In the hurry, when she turned round a bend, she collided with another person who was walking past the corridor and fell to the floor on her back.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the redhead exclaimed from the floor, but when she looked up, her expression turned into dislike.

"Watch your step, you filthy mudblood" the hefty boy spat.

Lily jumped up from the floor and looked at him with superiority. Honestly, that Slytherin gave her the creeps, but she didn't show it. She slightly turned her head in order to see the boy's mate, and when she recognized him Lily loosened her shoulders a bit. It was Severus. She didn't show any sign of knowing him, and he did the same thing, but the redhead knew her friend wouldn't let anything happen to her. He wasn't going to provoke the boy, that's for sure, but she looked at him in the eye, defiantly. He got tense and slowly took the wand out of his pocket, but Snape stopped him, holding his arm strongly in a movement almost imperceptible to the girl, who couldn't hear either to what he has said in order to dissuade him.

"Get out of my way" the boy said impatiently, pushing her aside as he kept walking. Severus walked after him, but turned around to look at his friend with apologies in his eyes. Lily gave him a brief smile and took her way.

When she got there, she quickly went up the stairwell wishing the class hadn't started yet. When she went through the door, an overly sweet aroma invaded her nose, and both the faint light and the heavy atmosphere seemed to be pushing her against the floor. Lily looked around, slightly dazed. Several small, round tables were spread in the room, and around them were gathered many students sat on little pouffes and chintz armchairs.

"Ahhhh" said an overly theatrical voice that startled her "Just as I told you, here we have the student who hadn't arrived yet. Come on in, dear, come in: the class hasn't started, we were waiting for you. There's a free table there, you'll have to sit alone…"

Lily looked at her with suspicion, her eyes glued to the woman until she fell into a pouffe, at the farthest table from the door. The redhead, as the diligent girl she was, prepared to listen to her attentively.

"Well, my dears, I'm Professor Pitia, and it's my duty this year to introduce you to the mysterious and interesting secrets of Divination. Every wizard, witch or _muggle _wants to know the future, but that's a gift that only comes to privileged few. I'm one of them: my inner eye is extremely powerful. A very small amount of wizards and witches are born with a gift like mine, and that's cause I come from a long lineage of psychics. My ancestors are the very own pythias from Ancient Greece. However, the inner eye can be developed, and though you'll never acquire my abilities, I can get to transform you into promising psychics. I feel great energies that emanate from many of you. From some others… not so much"

The speech was turning out to be incredibly boring: Lily had never thought she would experience the need to fall asleep during a class. Probably the heat coming out of the chimney wasn't helping. When her eyelids were already closing, she heard the door tucked open a bit violently and she opened her eyes, startled. The Professor seemed to startle too, which got a smirk out of the redhead.

"Sorry, Professor. They got it wrong with my timetable; I wasn't supposed to be coming to Divination. Professor McGonagall told me to come to the first class, and that she'll fix the problem later"

The girl, away from the door and enveloped in the mist that flooded the room, couldn't see the person who had entered, and his voice sounded too muffled for her to recognize it. The only thing she could say about it was that it was quite a rude voice, but to be honest, she didn't mind. She didn't exactly like Professor Pitia too much for now.

"Ohhh, yes" the woman exclaimed. That mystical voice she loved to use truly irritated Lily. "Dear, come on in. There's a reason for you to be here instead of in the class you had chosen. I think you should stay here during the rest of the year" she said, trying to hide the surprise that his sudden bursting in had caused her.

The boy emitted a skeptical noise and headed unwillingly to the table the woman indicated him. Only one small and diffuse figure was sitting there and James couldn't recognize her until he was close enough. With a foul-tempered face and her red hair slightly disheveled by the aromatic steams from the fire, there it was Lily Evans. However, the girl seemed to be slightly drowsy, because her eyes went through him as if he was transparent and didn't focus on anything in particular. Maybe the class wouldn't be that boring after all, at least for James, who loudly dropped his books next to Lily, who jumped out of her pouffe, startled.

"What's up, Evans? Who would have told me that coming to this stupid class I would meet my favorite redhead?"

The look Lily threw him was hard to decode. It wasn't the usual contempt; it looked more like desperation and disbelief, and it was followed by a pitiful moan as the girl rested her forehead on the table, frustrated.

"It upsets you that bad to see me?" James said it as a joke, but there was some bitterness in his question.

Lily ignored him.

"You are really bad-mannered, redhead. And what's that of not paying attention to the class? Professor Pitia is not gonna like it, and she's coming over here…"

Lily raised her head as if they had activated a spring, and the dark-haired boy with glasses stifled his guffaws so that he wouldn't interrupt the class. Of course, the professor was in her place in front of the class, still immersed in that tedious speech about the inner eye.

"You're a moron, Potter" Lily said with fury, laying her forehead on the table again.

"And you're _really_ bad-tempered"

"Can't you just go back to ignoring me? I liked it better when you didn't remember I existed" she asked, her voice muffled because of her position.

"You're a bad liar, Evans. I know you were hoping I paid attention to you"

The hysterical laugh the girl let out worried James a bit; maybe those steams were toxic or something.

"Anyway, don't feel like you're important. I'm just talking to you cause this class is terribly boring. Even worse than History of Magic. And I'm not even here of my own free will. You are,

"Shut it" and that was the last word that came out of her mouth for the rest of the class.

"Evans…"

'Oh, Merlin. Potter. How the hell has he managed to get on my nerves so much in just one day?' Apart from the voice, there was someone pretty insistent poking Lily's shoulder. Why couldn't they let her sleep?

"Evans…"

Wait a second, what was Potter doing in her room?

"EVANS"

Ohh… She wasn't in her room. Damn it, she had fallen asleep! Lily sprang to her feet cursing under her breath. She grabbed her stuff and put it into her bag in any old how, heading towards the opened door.

"You have a heavy sleep, redhead" said James (who was followig her) in a sardonic way.

"What did I miss? What did you do?" she asked anxiously. Even though the subject was boring, Lily couldn't stand missing a class.

"Nothing important. Pitia talked, and talked, and talked…"

"Fine. Thanks for waking me up" the girl let out that last sentence making a great effort. "I'm off to Arithmancy"

After saying this, she left in a hurry. As soon as she left the Tower, her head cleared. No wonder she had fallen asleep: with Pitia's monotonous speech, the classroom's heat and the sickly sweet smell that made her brain go fuzzy, it was logical that she hadn't been able to stay awake.

She opened the classroom door delicately, but there was no one inside. After all, she had arrived early. She sat in the front, as always, and took a book out of her rucksack, willing to read while she waited. But when she opened it, she heard a laugh. She raised he reyes and found Eli.

"Hi"

Her friend's eyes here shining and he was having a hard time trying not to laugh.

"Hi, Lils. I like your new look" and he burst out laughing. Lily looked at him with her eyes wide open and, disconcerted, put her hand on her head.

"POTTER!"

...

**Princess of Brooklyn:** Huge thank you for the review, and I didn't know aboytthe anonymous reviews, I've already fixed that. Really thank you for your nice words :)

**AriannaSaffyreMalfoy:** Thanks for the review, and a huge thank you for the corrections! I'll edit it as soon as I can: I often forget that in English, is necessary to add the "ly" in order to make those nouns adverbs, while in Spanish we can use them differently


	11. Chapter 11: Never mess with Lily Evans

**Hello everybody! SORRY it took me so long to update again, but I've been so busy! I hope i didn't lose any reader because of this I don't like this chapter at all, but I was blocked, and to get "unblocked" all I could do was writing…**

"POTTER!"

Her long, red hair, which usually fell naturally on her back, now moved to and fro on Lily's head, forming a funny curl on the top. The girl's horrified expression must have made him feel sorry for her, cause Eli dried his tears and stopped laughing.

"Come on, Lils, don't worry, it's not that bad. It's still red and pretty, at least he didn't dye it. You just look like… well; actually, you look like one of those _muggle_ dolls. _Dam Trolls, _I think they call them. Stupid name, if you ask me, as they don't look at all like the rea …

"No, Eli, I'm not asking you! Just make this go back to normal!" she seemed to be on the edge of a nervous breakdown. As tough as she seemed, the redhead hated to make a fool of her, and, as she was finding out this year, she hated it even more if it was the fault of that asshole, Potter.

"But you look gorgeous!" the boy dared to let out with a guffaw, earning a strong blow on the back of his neck. "Ouch, Lil. I just don't know how to revert it. It was probably a spell, you should go see Madame Pomfrey"

"I'm not going to see Madame Pomfrey just because it occured to Potter – that jackass – that he didn't like my hairstyle." Lily spitted out, rummaging through her bag until she found a tiny, silver hand mirror. When she looked at her reflection, her lips went livid in anger.

"The lily was a nice touch" Eli commented sitting next to her and pointing at the flower decorating the redhead's hairdo, who gave him a withering look.

At that moment, the door opened and a few third-years entered the room, staring at Lily quite openly. The girl made herself tiny on the chair, her face as red as her hair, and she tried to go unnoticed, failing disastrously. When she entered, Professor Vector looked at her with curiosity, but said nothing and got ready to start with the class.

"Potter is a dead man" the redhead hissed, walking quickly through the corridors with her books strongly pressed against her chest. She hated to be the center of attention, especially if it was because she looked like a _muggle _doll.

"Oh, I bet he is" Eli whispered to himself with a smirk on his lips; he was already wishing to enjoy spectacle Lily and Potter would make of themselves.

When they saw them arrive, Sam pulled a weird expression, Bree startled and Becca opened her mouth in order to say something, but gave up when she saw Eli's exaggerated gestures, who begged her not to say anything. Lily was seething with rage, so it was the boy the one to answer their friends' mute questions.

"Potter" and he didn't need tos ay anything else.

The two Ravenclaws said goodbye to their friends and went to the Charms Classroom pretty cheerfully, while the girls headed to the greenhouses. On the way, Lily did not say a single word, and Sam and Bree preferred not to say anything about it, nor to joke about their friend's new look, who was obviously furious. Anyway, the girl stood the giggles and jokes other students made her while they passed by without throwing any spells or swearwords, merely giving them a withering, green look to anyone who dared to bother her. Once outside the castle, the redhead loosened her shoulders, as there weren't so many people to laugh at her.

"Lils?" said Brianna, doubtfull, placing her hand on Lily's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Bree, I'm fine. The one who isn't gonna be fine is iPotter/i" she said his name with so much anger that the blue-eyed brunette worried a little. Samatha on the other hand, smiled, pleased: Potter had no idea about what he had just provoked.

"I can't wait to see her" James said, smiling maliciously, leaning carelessly on the wall of Greenhouse 3. "When she left to her class, she had no idea."

When he had met his friends, the dark-haired boy had told them with tears in his eyes and laughing about his little prank. Peter and Sirius had found it extremely funny, but Remus had thrown him a reproachful look without saying a word.

At that moment, they saw a trio of girls who walked towards the greenhouse. They could only see their silhouettes: Bree's small figure, the tall Perks, and a skinny body on top of which a mane of a dark red hair shone because of the sunlight. When they were close enough to make out their faces, Remus smiled a bit: James was clearly going to get what he deserved. However, the rest of the boys seemed to underestimate the sparks coming out of the redhead's huge, green eyes. She walked towwards them determined, followed by her friends. The lycanthrope observed that while Boot seemed worried, Perks was truly enjoying the whole situation.

Lily planted herself in front of them with confidence, but didn't greet Remus warmly as always; instead, she stared at the dark-haired boy with glasses, who was still leaning against the wall. When he saw the redhead, he raised an eyebrow and smiled snootily. Sirius, who had his back to the girls, turned around and burst out laughing when he saw the result of his friend's prank. Big mistake; Lily had had it up to here with the laughter. Without opening her mouth and without even taking her wand out of her pocket, the girl gave him a kick with all her might. The dark-haired, grey-eyed boy, who wasn't expecting it, screamed with pain falling to the floor and grabbing his shin. James immediately straightened up and glared at the redhead, surprised and annoyed, while Remus struggled not to laugh.

"Are you insane!" yelled Sirius, whose pride was more hurt tan his leg.

"Shut it, Black" Lily hissed, taking her wand out of her robes' pleats, holding it so tightly that some threatening red sparks came out of it. "And iyou/i, Potter" she said furiously, aiming her wand at him.

"Hey, Evans, you didn't like your new look?" Potter said smiling smugly, but in his eyes you could see a slight doubt. After all, the redhead did seem a little unbalanced. "I think you look really pretty. i_Accio!/i" _he added, and with a swift wand movement he summoned the lily on the girl's head, taking it with his left hand, but immediatly letting it go: as soon as it had touched his hand it had started to burn, and it turned into ashes in the twinkling of an eye. Peter, terrified, looked alternatively at the carbonized flower and at Lily. However, before anyone could say anything else, Professor Sprout arrived and everybody put their wands away, obediently entering the greenhouse.

"Don't even think you'll get out of this" Sam whispered in Potter's ear while she went through the door following her friends.

The class took place as normal, though Lily was victim of several attacks carried out by a variety of plants which seemed to find her voluminous, bright hair a bit threatening. However, she was really calm and Sirius, who was watching her from the distance, thought the storm had passed, so the Marauders had already forgotten about the whole thing when they left the greenhouse. But when they were heading towards the castle, something hit James on the nape of his neck. The boy rubbed with his hand the aching neck and turned around frowning.

"What the–"

"We have a pending conversation." The moody redhead spitted out. She was the responsible for throwing a stone at him with her wand.

"No, Evans, I don't wanna go out with you" James said showing his two rows of white teeth. Sirius chuckled, but Peter hid behind Remus, who was watching the situation with caution.

"FIX THIS RIGHT NOW, POTTER" the girl yelled, waving her wand in a rage and making James take a step back, who felt a sharp blow on his chest.

"Who do you think you are, Evans, to defy the Marauders?" Sirius replied angrily, taking his wand out of his pocket.

"Stay out of this, Black" she answered. James looked at his friend and made a gesture with his head, and the dark-haired boy put out his wand again, the annoyance visible in his attractive grey eyes. "You think you're funny, Potter, but you're just a self-centered and spoiled brat, who unfortunately doesn't have a brain to stuff that huge head of yours!" While she was saying this, she waved her wand back and forth provoking small explosions around James' feet, who avoided them with an astounding agility. "Now, i_fix this_/i

"You're nobody to tell me what to do, Evans" the boy spitted out, pretty angry. He had took out his wand, but he didn't seem very willing to use it.

"And whom do you think you are to turn me into a giant ice-cream? You'll solve this little problem right _inow_/i" the girl threatened him, dangerously approaching to the dark-haired boy holding her wand in the air.

James whispered something and Lily was thrown backwards, not with too much strength, but enough to turn her face red in anger.

"_Aguamenti!" _ a stream of freezing wáter cameo ut of the tip of the redhead's wand and ended up on the dark-haired boy's faced, who raised his wand again.

"Stop it" said Remus calmly, deflecting James' spell with his wand "Enough of that nonsense. James, you should apologize"

"But she attacked me first!" he said, outraged.

"Well, yes, that wasn't right, but you are the one who started the whole thing" after saying this, Remus pronounced the counterspell and Lily's hair softly fell on her back again. Sirius rolled his eyes and James murmured "iwet blanket/i", turning around and heading towards the castle again.

"Thank you, Remus." Lily said, calmer.

"You're welcome" The boy smiled slightly bowing his head to the girls, and then catched up with his friends.

"The knigh in shining armour arrived to rescue the damsel in distress" Sam said smiling once the Marauders were far enough.

"I think the damsel in distress was actually Black" Brianna commented, and the three girls roared with laughter and started walking.

"And it wasn't an ice-cream, redhead" James yelled from the distance, turning his head around "It's a work of art!"

Lily raised her wand in order to slam Potter agains the stone wall, but Bree snatched it from her hand and Sam put her arm around her shoulders.

"Easy, Lils. You won't take the prat out of him through blows."

"You shouldn't have turned her hair back to normal, Remus" Sirius reproached him.

"You wanted a kick on the other leg, toe ven up?" the lycanthrope joked.

"It's not funny" the black-haired bow murmured. "Crazy Evans is strong"

That comment made James smile a bit, who hadn't liked at all the fact that the redhead challenged him.

"Anyway, it was worth it" he said with a half smile on his face "Did you see how angry she was? Her green eyes sparkled"

"You should stop messing with Lily, James. She's a nice girl" the honey-eyed boy said.

"iExactly/i"

"Besides, dear Remus, those girls dared to defy the Marauders. That deserves a punishment." Sirius added.

The lycanthrope shook his head, resigned, while he opened the heavy wooden door, decided to ignore his friends' ridiculous plans.


	12. Chapter 12: Potions Lesson

**Well, hello again! First of all, a huge thank you to AriannaSaffyreMalfoy for the review, it's really important to me that people who read take their time to comment…so thank you! I've answered you at the end of the chapter. Even though the story isn't a great success, judging by the lack of comments, I'm still here with chapter 12. Hope you like it!**

Lily woke up startled, suddenly sitting up on the bed and instinctively puting her han don her head. She sighed relieved when she felt her silky hair falling in disheveled waves. She rubbed her face with her hands, frowning a little, and then reached out to her night table to get her clock. It was almost time to get up, so there was no point in trying to sleep again. Stupid nightmare, at least it hadn't waked her up in the middle of the night. The girl quietly took her legs out of the blankets and put on her slippers, dragging her feet towards the bathroom and softly closing the door. Still sleepy, she planted herself in front of the mirror and looked at her reflection. A long and striking dark red hair framed her pale face and caressed her back with each slight movement of her head. Being thirteen years old, that feature was the only thing Lily liked about herself, and that's why she had had hysterics when Potter transformed it into a colourful sculpture. She stroked it with her slender fingers, running them through it as if she wanted to make sure it was indeed there, and flush dyed her cheeks, crossed by freckles, when she realized she was being slightly superficial; but every girl or woman is a bit vane. She stood there for a while, observing herself. Her face hadn't hints of the childhood's roundness, unlike many preteens. Instead, she had delicate jaw and cheekbones. To tell you the truth, she had always been pretty skinny; her body hadn't yet acquired the feminine curves that many others, like Becca, did have. Lily didn't see in her other features anything interesting either, but she didn't really mind too much about it. The only thing that probably was even more attractive than her long hair where her stunning, almond-shaped, green eyes: the girl had no idea about how many boys had got lost, nor about how many would get lost inside those eyes she didn't care about.

After having a shower and getting dressed, the redhead announced to Brianna, whose hair was in a mess, that she would wait for them in the Common Room. She absent-mindedly went down the stairs and comfortably got settled in one of the armchairs, glancing at a seventh year girl with rings under her eyes who seemed to have fallen asleep on the table. Lily carefuly took a heavy book out of her rucksack, but before she could open it a gentle voice startled her.

"Second day of classes and she already falls asleep on her homework; I definitely don't wanna get to seven year."

"Remus! I didn't hear you arrive" the girl exclaimed, turning around with a warm smile.

"I have to abandon the habit of scaring you every time I see you" The honey-eyed boy smiled "Hey… sorry about James. He's a nice boy, really, it's just—"

"You don't have to apologize because your friends is bigheaded fool" Lily interrupted him, ignoring all the stuff about Potter being 'a nice boy'. "It's not your fault. In fact, you're the one who turned me back to normal".

The lycanthrope looked at her with a crooked smile that intrigued Lily, who couldn't imagine that what the boy was thinking was that she was just as stubborn as James. Imperceptibly shaking his head, the boy told himself that not even seeing it with her own eyes Lily would allow herself to hear that the dark-haired boy was a nice person. At that moment, they heard some footsteps coming from the staircase and they both looked up. Brianna, Samantha and Mary were coming down the stairs with clear long faces, dragging her feet as if they were heading to the execution wall. Remus looked at the redhead, opening her mouth in order to ask her, but before he could do it she answered:

"Double Potions, and first thing in the morning" The lycanthrope laughed.

"To tell you the truth, I understand them. I hate Potions" he said.

"Actually, I'm fond of them" the redhead commented, putting her book away and getting up of the armchair.

"I know" the boy answered, waving at her and walking away to leave her with her friends

The four Gryffindors had breakfast as slowly as posible. Mary, Bree and Sam hated Potions; they were not only pretty bad at them (only Samantha, who was a diligent student, achieved fairly good results every once in a while) but they were also two hours in a row, and they had to share them with the Slytherins. Always, every single year, Potions lessons were with the Slytherins. The only one who seemed to be happy about it was Lily, who used the classes to be with Severus. Bree, Sam and the sweet Mary couldn't understand why, but they did understand that the boy was important to their friend, and they respected the time she had to be with him.

"Sam, those oats don't taste of anything anymore, swallow them already!" Lily exclaimed slightly exasperated, with her elboew on the table and her chin resting in her hand. The person in question raised her eyes from her dish and half-closing them she said, pointing at Lily with her spoon:

"The fact that you're in a good mood cause Lupin cheered you up with some morning kisses and that you're anxious to go stir some smelly soup with a bunch of brainless snakes while Slughorn pees on his pants because you do it so well doesn't give you the right to hurry my breakfast." After pronouncing that short monologue, the black-haired girl put another spoonful of cereal in her mouth and chewed slowly, staring at her green-eyed friend.

"Lower your voice!" Lily answered irritated, looking out of the corner of her eye at the Marauders, who were having breakfast near them. Mary raised an eyebrow and looked curiously at the girl.

"So you and Lupin? You're so discreet! I didn't know anything about it. He is a hottie!" she said, smiling. Mary wasn't fond of gossiping, but she was hopeless romantic.

"What am I hearing, Lils? You've made it official and I've been the last one to hear about it?" as if she had a radar for topics like that one, Rebecca made room for herself next to the redhead and stole a toast to a second year boy who was about to bite it.

"How many times do I have to say it? Lupin is my friend" Becca just ignored her, biting the toast, but Mary seemed to be disappointed.

"But what about the morning kisses?" she asked

"Who has kissed whom?" inquired Eli, who had approached the table once he had finished talking to the Ravenclaw Quidditch team's captain.

"No one has kissed anybody." Lily answered drily, becoming exasperated. She got up of her seat and putting her rucksack on her shoulder, added: "And we're late for Potions"

Sam looked at her irritated and loudily dropped the spoon into the bowl.

"Ok, ok, let's go, once and for all" she grumbled, and stood up too, walking towards the door. Mary agreed to meet them in a few minutes and went to talk for a while with her friends on the Hufflepuff table, and Becca dragged Eli (who hated Herbology) to the greenhouses.

"Come on, Lils, don't get into a huff" Bree told her, walking at a quick pace next to her, trying to catch Samantha up "We already know there's nothing going on between you and Lupin, even though you make a nice couple"

The redhead rolled her eyes at that last comment, but smiled.

Once in the dungeons, the girls saw a gawky figure standing next to the classroom door. His greasy hair fell gracelessly at the sides of his sallow face, in which an aquiline nose stood out. Bree and Sam slipped through the door without greeting Snape, but without showing displeasure either. Lily smiled and kissed her friendo on the cheek, getting a pleased smile out of the boy. A couple of Slytherins that where entering the room glared at the girl, but didn't say anything. Lily knew they despised her, not only for being a Gryffindor but also for being a _muggleborn_, so she couldn't help to get tense for a moment. They had never stopped Severus and her from spending time together, but she knew they had tried to persuade him about her not being the right sort of people. Anyway, that they knew of, the friends just spend the Potions lessons together, and met occasionally at the library or the corridors; Lily and Severus had always been very discreet, and had never let other people know how close was their friendship. The older students thought that Snape was just attracted to the redhead; even though it was hard for them to admit it, and despite they'd never touch her for being a _mudblood, _she was a pretty girl. Maybe still to young, and too skinny, but pretty. He'd grow out of it, understanding that she was just another mudblood, and that there were plenty of other pureblood girls who were actually worth it. Just at the end, in a far, far future, they would realize how wrong they were.

"Hi" He simply said, and they entered the classroom together, sitting at their usual place right in front of the teacher. They were both excellent at the subject, but Slughorn only had eyes for her. Snape, however, didn't care about it, as long as the redhead had eyes for him.

"How was your first day?" she cheerfully asked, looking at him with a smile. Snape loved that about her; every time she saw him she smiled as if she had been all day yearning for seeing him. She made him feel loved, and always seemed interested in everything he did or said.

"Anything unusual" he answered, briefly as always, but stamping on his words a sweetness they only had when they were aimed at her. "How 'bout yours?"

"Same thing" The girl decided to omit the hair incident. Potter and Severus hated eachother terribly since the first day they'd met, and even though she didn't like Potter, she rather doesn't cause any trouble. At that moment, Potter's characteristic laughter resounded in the corridor, and Lily couldn't help snorting. Second later, Potter appeared at the door, accompanied by Black, Pettigrew and Remus, who were laughing too. The girl observed them for a moment, understanding maybe for the first time how strong was four boy's friendship. Her features softened a little for a second, but she quickly looked away when the boy with glasses looked up and saw her staring at them.

The four boys tried not to laugh until the sound of the moody caretaker's steps decreased and finally became inaudible to them. At that momento, they burst into laughter; even Remus, who usually didn't aprove Sirius and James' jokes had taken part in it. The new caretaker didn't seem much worse tan Apollyon Pringle, whom the marauders had tortured during their first two years; he was just as grouchy and unkind, but he also had a stupid cat who didn't let the dark-haired boys alone for a minute, and who didn't seem to trust Remus at all. However, now any troublemaker would be able to see the fluorescent cat from the distance, at least until Filch got to find her and Madame Pomfrey hit upon the right counterspell. Amid laughter, the boys headed the dungeon where Potions lessosn were delivered, commenting on how great Sirius' idea was. Already at the door, James raised his eyes, and his hazel look met a striking pair of almond-shaped, green eyes that quickly looked away. The boy kept watching her delicate profile; her pale skin, her tiny freckles, and smirked when he noticed the light blush of her cheeks. But his smile turned into a forced grimace when he saw that next to the redhead sitted merrily a gawky figure who avidly observed his interlocutor. Bad mood overcame him in seconds, and Sirius noticed it immediately, sighing almost imperceptibly when he understood what his friend was looking at. Without a single word, the dark-haired boy with glasses carelessly walked towards Lily and sat behind her, followed by the resigned marauders, who mentally noted down to talk to their friend about this infatuation, which had always existed but seemed to become more and more evident.

Seconds later, Professor Slughorn's voluminous figure appeared in the dungeons, followed by a panting Mary McDonald, who sat next to Bree and Sam breathless. After a bombastic welcome, the Professor briefly explained them how to brew a Shrinking Solution, writing the instructions down on the blackboard with a flick of the wand and clapping his hand indicating the beginning of the lesson. While some students stood up to get the necessary ingredients from the cupboard, the man approached Lily and Severus' table with a wide smile, and before Snape could stand up to get their things, he placed in front of them the ingredients he had used to show what were they going to need, making a gesture with his hand to indicate the boy to stay in his seat.

"Miss Evans, lovely to see you again! How was your summer?" Lily gave him a wide smile full of white teeth that distracted James a little, who had gone to pick up the ingredients with Sirius, but remained alert to the conversation.

"Very well, Professor, thanks for asking" the girl answered politely.

"How are you, Mr. Snape?" the man said lookinh at the boy, who roughly nodded by way of greeting. "I imagine, miss Evans, that your friend has told you everything about all the interesting things he learnt this summer at the convention. Shame you missed it."

"Oh, I'll have other oportunities" she answered with her charming smile. Right then, they heard the sound of glass breaking and an irritated voice spitting insults.

"I better go help the rest of the students or they will accuse me of favouritism. I'll let you kno wabout the first meeting of the Slug Club" Slughorn said winking at the redhead and turning around to clean the angry Black with a wand movement, who ranted and raved against James, who apologized absentmindedly.

Once everybody was on their seats, Lily and Severus diligently started to brew the potion without any difficulty, while they chatted animatedly under the watchul eye and sharp ear of Potter.

"If you don't help me slice this stupid caterpillars, you keep Peter and Remys brews my potion" Sirius grumbled, who was still in a bad mood after the troll bogeys accident and had started to work to ignore his friend.

"Leave it alone, Sirius" the lycanthrope said while mincing his daisy roots "He isn't listening. Apparently, this'll be a complicated year"

The black-haired, grey-eyed boy stared at him as if he didn't know what he meant, but deep down, he did. He would take about it with James later.

"What 'bout pulling a prank for Snivellus?" James suddenly whispered when Snape tucked a red curl that swang over the cauldron (in danger of getting wet by the potion) behind Lily's ear. The class was about to end, and those were the first words he emitted in two hours.

"James, McGonagall gave you a detention yesterday, remember? You still have that one. Besides, the Slytherins' prank included Snape" said Remus, knowing it was a hopeless case from the beginning.

"Ah, but our friend Snivellus deserves a especial joke" said Sirius smirking maliciously, who had forgotten his anger once the words "Snivellus" and "Prank" had been mentioned.

In no time at all, the dark-haired boys were hexing Snape's cauldron, of which content, in the shape of a powerful stream, entered the nostrils of the boy's hooked nose The whole class burst out laughing when Snape's nose started to shrink, and the redhead, boiling with rage, turned around and without thinking, waved her wand and blew up the surprised pranksters' cauldron, who became covered in a greenish substance that Remus removed with a wand movement and an inaudible whisper. Lily was as red as her hair, and her threatening green eyes looked daggers at the marauders. At that moment arrived Professor Slughorn, who was at the other side of the room, and the firl went pale when she realized what she had just done. The man, wide-eyed, was just able to ask Nott to take the enraged Snape to the Hospital Wing (in whose nose, now tiny, had started to grow some awful boils: the potion was made to be ingested, not inhaled) and to request the ones who were involved to stay in the classroom until the rest of the students had abandoned the dungeons.

Even though Remus and Peter stayed there too, Slughorn, who had seen the whole thing from the distance, made them leave, so in front of him only stood Sirius, James, and the ashamed Lily.

"Well, Potter, Black: the usual. If I remind it correctly, you are free on Friday's afternoon; I expect you in my –"

"We've detention with Prodessor McGonagall, sir" interrupted him James.

"Oh, I see you don't waste your time. Well, next week, then. And you, miss Evans …" the man started, still taken aback "I, eh… I don't want to punish you, but-. Though actually, I do understand it wasn't your fault… however" Slughorn didn't seem sure about what to do, so it was Lily who interrupted him this time.

"I'm sorry, Professor. It wasn't my fault, but I still shouldn't have done it. I understand you have to give me a detention" Sirius rolled his eyes and the redhead stamped on his foot, being deliberately ignored by the professor.

"Fine, in that case, I expect you next week's Friday too, miss Evans" the man answered, still not convinced. The girl opened her mouth in order to complain, but then chose to shut up. If the dynamic duo founf out that she didn't want to be in detention with them, they would make her afternoon even worse. The redhead was the first one to leave, with her head held high and the books tightly held against her chest.

"Miss Evans" Slughorn called her when she was half-way to the door. The redhead turned around. "Ten points to Gryffindor, for an excellent Shrinking Solution" he said, pointing at the cauldron. Lily gave him a Little smile and abandoned the dungeons, followed by the surprised dark-haired boys.


	13. Chapter 13: Girls

**Sorry it took me so long to update! This chapter proves why I chose to start the story on their third year, when I think they start to worry about things children don't.**

The redhead decided to skip lunch and walk near the lake for a while, until her anger went away, but she wasn't aware of the time and when she arrived at the Ancient Runes' classroom, almost every seat was taken, which didn't help to improve her mood. She could see Eli and Becca sitting together on the fifth row, but didn't go closer to say hi to them, she just gave them a smile that turned out more like a grimace. She didn't want to be asked about the detention. Anyway, her friends understood: they had run into the Gryffindors at the Great Hall and they had put them in the picture about the recent incident. She crossed the corridor among the desks at a quick pace without paying much attention, heading to the last rows where there still were some seats left, but before she could pick one, she heard a soft voice calling her and turned around.

"Lily! There's a seat here if you want it" The pale boy ended the sentence with a hint of a doubt, as if he had regreted offering it, or as if he thought the firl would rather sit with someone else. However, Lily hurried to take the place next to the boy in the second row and smiled warmly at him. A pair of shy honey eyes stared back at her.

"Thanks, Remus. Of all the clases, I arrive late at the only one in which the first seats to be taken are the ones in the front row" The redhead thanked him while she took her book and parchment out of her rucksack. The boy gave a hint of a half smile.

"That's because the percentage of nerds' attendance to this class is of a 100%" Lily laughed

"I guess you're right"

"Did Slughorn give you a detention?" The boy asked. Oddly, she didn't mind that he asked her about it. She sighed, placing her chin on the palms of her hands and leaning over the desk.

"Yep. I've earned a detention. My first detention" she answered, slightly frowning and pursing her lips.

"This has been quite a busy beginning of the year for you, huh? Don't worry, I've had some detentions (of which I'm not completely responsable) and they're not that bad. At least Slughorn likes you" the lycanthrope reassured her, smiling once again. "Do you want some?" He offered, showing her a chocolate bar that he had taken out of his pocket when the girl's stomach complained about the lack of lunch. She accepted it, thankful. When she looked at him, Lily thought that the boy was pretty tired, even sick, judging for his paleness and the dark rings under his eyes, even darker than usual.

"You ok, Remus?" she asked, straightening in her seat and staring at him carefully. Lupin looked away with a lightly shaky smile.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just tired."

"Oh, I figure, with those friends you have" the lycanthrope laughed.

"Even if you don't want to believe it, they're good people, really. Pretty mischievous and a bit self-centered. They'll grow out of it."

"If you say so… I'd just like that as long as their loooong maturing process lasts, they ignored me" The honey-eyed boy laughed again. The redhead liked to see him laugh, as she sensed that his life hadn't always been too happy. The samed happened to her with Sverys, who was unsociable and unpleasant for most people, but Lily knew that it was because of his childhood, and that's why she enjoyed when she saw him happy and smiling. She beamed and the boy looked at her curiously, knowing that the girl was an exceptional and understanding person. God forbid James from screwing it up before she got to know her, he thought. Despite not believing in Divination, our young lycanthrope was quite a perceptive person.

"They have it in with you this year" he commented, knowing that actually the problema ad begun years ago, the day that it had ocurred to James to burst into the wagon of the temperamental redhead.

"Look, if you mention this, I'll painfully kill you, but I know they must have a nice side. After all, I see you're so loyal to them and that you love them; there has to be a reason for it." Remus smiled to the death threat, pretending to close a zip on his mouth with his index and thumb.

"Your mates seem like good people too, even though some of them have quite a temper" he added, thoughtfull "Though, well, you have it too" he clarified. Lily half closed her eyes but smiled too.

"Yeah, they're great. Bree reminds me a little of you, because she's so patient and quiet. Sam has a completely acid humour, and she has the craziest ideas! Becca is terribly funny, it's impossible not to like her, even though sometimes her energy provokes disasters. And Eli is very special, though he can be quite excentric sometimes. You two would get along." Remus listened to her speak about their friends nodding at every piece of information. The way she talked about them confirmed to him one more time that Lily would do anything for the ones she loved.

Shortly afterwats, all the chitchat was interrupted by the arrival of the imposing Prefessor Babbling.

After an hout, while all the students put their stuff away, Lily kissed his friend goodbye on the cheek.

"See you, Remus" she said, and walked away in a better modd than she was when she had arrived to meet Moon and Rivers.

The lycanthrope put his things away and headed to the grounds, where the first Care of Magical Creatures class would take place. While he went through the crowded corridors, the honey-eyed boy thought with resignation about the day he had ahead tomorrow. He observed the faces of the students that walked on the opposite direction, some of them where known and some of them weren't, and he wondered how would they reacy if they knew that a werewolf walked among them. He could almost see how all the faces transformed into expressions of fear, and he hated himself for who he was. But then he thought of Dumbledore, and that if it wasn't for him, who knows where Remus would be now… The Headmaster wouldn't want him to go crying in the corners, aking pity of himself. The best way of paying him for all he had done for him was being happy at Hogwarts; a diligent and responsible student. But he couldn't help thinking about what would other people think, and his face darkened again. He opened the heavy, wooden door and walked, lost in his thoughts, towards the group of students who were already waiting for the professor. When he got closer, he could see his friends, and all his worries went away. James messed out his untamable, dark hair in a gesture more than familiar, laughing with his glasses slightly crooked, while Sirius let out one of his lound laughs, mischievousness shining in his deep grey eyes. Peter laughed to, with that nervousness characteristic of the boy. Remus couldn't help smiling. He _was _happy at Hogwarts and he owed that to his friends. That was the only thing that mattered.

"Hey, Remus!" called him Sirius when he saw him. "Did you enjoy the boring Runes class while we rested at the Common Room?" The boy in question rolled his eyes.

"It was actually really interesting"

"Suuure" the dark-haired boy commented absent-mindedly, waving his wand and making a clueless Ravenclaw trip. The honey-eyed boy threw him a reproachful look.

"Come on, Remus, admit that you missed us so much that you're considering leaving the subject" James added in a dramatic tone that made Peter laugh.

"Oh, yeah, whatever, James. Anyway I wasn't alone. Lily is an excellent classmate; she doesn't spend her time trying to set students around us on fire, you know?"

"We have never set anything on…!" It took James a few seconds to process what his friend had said, and he stopped before finishing the sentence. "Did you say Lily?"

Sirius decided to intervene before his friend started to behave like before.

"And because of that class you missed what a show Petey was, falling asleep in the sofá and yelling that the fairies wanted to take him away." The sandy-haired boy went completely red, and even though James frowned he didn't try to change the subject again.

Later than he should have, the jovial Professor Kettleburn arrived, and after a brief explanation about Crups (a creature similar to Jack Russel terriers but with a forked tail, completely loyal to wizards but fierce to muggles) he asked them to get into groups of three to proceed to de-worming the animals. The Marauders looked at each other and decided to Split into two groups of two (James and Sirius on one side and Remus and pete ron the other) and to wait until the students who were alone joined them. When almost everybody was ready, Professor Kettleburn saw them and said to everybody:

"Anybody free to join Messrs. Black, Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew?"

They heard a squeak of exciment followed by a whispered discussion, and in less than a second two girls, a Ravenclaw and one of their Gryffindor mates rushed to get to their side with a smile of triumph. At first, the marauders were a bit surprised; after all, they were brats but their egos hadn't had time to fully develop. The dilemma came when it was time to decide which of them joined which group, as the main attractive of spending a whole hour with the marauders were James and Sirius. The girls argued a little in a low voice, and the Professor ended up getting fed up with waiting and made the groups himself. The boys didn't mind, honestly, so they didn't complain. Finally, the groups ended up being formed by Barker (the ravenclaw), Potter and Pettingrew, and by Mulroney, Lupin and Black.

"Very well" Kettleburn said calling everyone's attention "Each group will br assigned with one Crup: don't treat him badly and don't waste the De-worming Potion." After saying this, he distributed the creatures and the class begun.

"Hey! I'm Rachel Barker" their group mate introduced herself with a smile. She was really pretty: she had a long, wavy, light brown hair; light blue eyes and a pink mouth. Her face was quite round and her complexion had a really pleasant peach tone. James didn't bother in introducing himself; after all, the whole school knew him, and Peter wasn'r expected to do it either, but the girl didn't seem to mind at all. She seemed to be radiant to be accompanying them. "They are so cute! Don't you think?" she said, stroking their Crup. Peter nodded, but James just messed up his hair, reading unselfishly the instructions written on the De-worming Potion's jar. His apparent lack of interest didn't seem to discourage the girl, who approached to the dark-haired boy with the animal in her arms, and leaned towards him to pretend she was reading the bottle too. A soft, citrus smell invaded this nose, and the boy in glasses looked at her mate out of the corner of his eye. Peter just sat there, staring at the space. He didn't care much that no one paid attention to him as long as they didn't make him touch the creature.

"Well, it doesn't seem that difficult. If you want I hold it while you take care of the hard work" Barker said with a giggle, still really close to James, who was beginning to enjoy the attention and smirked smugly.

"Sounds fine, Barker" he answered

"Call me Rachel" She asked, again with that stupid giggle that would have irritated anyone. However, James didn't mind, and messed up his hair one more time pretty arrogantly.

"Rachel, then." He said with a charming smile. The girl sat there staring at him, spellbound for a second, and then laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Fine, _James"_ She said, bitting her lower lip after pronouncing his name and looking at him in the eye. When he stared her back, she blushed and looked down, settling the Crup between her legs. "Don't you think we should name it?" she asked. James thought it was a stupid idea, as it wasn't their pet and the animal probably had a name already, but decided to indulge the girl, and they named it _Terrence_. While they worked, the girl wouldn't stop prattling, looking out of the corner of her eye atthe dark-haired boy, who quickly got bored and stop paying attention, but she didn't seem to notice.

Anyway, despite he didn't hear a Word of what she was saying, James loved the attention she dedicated to him, and that's probably how his ego begun to grow, feeding back with Sirius', whose situation wasn't too different.

"Hi Black, Lupin" the Gryffindor greeted them as son as her friend left smiling to join her group mates. She had a deep, seductive voice, and a pair of heavy and appealing eye-lids, though her hazel eyes weren't that pretty. She used her blond hair short and straight, and she had a thin nose, like her lips. She wasn't tradicionally gorgeous, but she was attractive. Sirius removed the dark hair from his eyes and gave her a captivating smile.

"What's up, Mulroney, love" He greeted her with a cheeky wink, sitting carelessly on the grass. Lupin, who didn't like the girl that much, just smiled briefly at her and nodded as a way of saying hi, sitting down too. She smiled satisfied and kneeled between the two boys, placing herself there as if she had rehearsed every single movement.

"You can call me Lara." Despite she referred to both of them, she stared at Sirius, and Remus sighed, relieved by the fact that the girl didn't expect him to participate in the conversation, but resigned too, knowing that he would have to take care of the Crup on his own.

"Then I am Sirius to you" The dark-haired boy answered, smiling once again and getting Lara to blush. She was a lot cheekier than her friend Rachel, and Sirius, just as James, was enjoying quite much the attention. When Kettleb urn approached them with the animal, the blonde wrinkled her nose with disgust and held her robes away from it. Sirius laughed and stroked the animal, but Remus was the one who finally took it in his arms and got ready to start with the work.

"How come we hadn't spoke that much before?" Sirius was asking his interested interlocutor, while the honey-eyed boy examined the Crup.

"Oh, maybe that's cause you hadn't noticed me before" Lara answered pretending to be a bit ofended, staring at him intensely.

"What do you mean? You're very pretty, of course I had noticed you" he answered, falsely outraged, and the blonde smiled pleased. Remus sighed: Sirius was a shameless liar.

"We got one totally infested by Chizpurfles" he murmured when he finished the inspection. "Would you hand me the bottles? We're supposed to measure how much magic the parasites have inside in order to see which potion we should use" His mates, immerse in the conversation, didn't pay attention to him, and the boy took the jars himself. The talk wasn't too intelligent it merely consiste don Sirius making smart comments, followed by an irritating giggle, oddly high-pitched, considering the girl's tone of voice. Remus looked at her out of the corner of his eye and saw that everything in her posture looked to attract Sirius, from her intense eyes and half-opened mouth to the studied shrugging of her shoulders. The luycanthrope noticed that his friend was delighted and rolled his eyes. At that moment, he heard another giggle, though a bit different, and he turned around to see Barker looking at James and laughing while he smiled seductively, applying the potion to the animal. He sighed and concentrated on his own Crup, fearing that this would happen in manu other classes.

The hour passed by without major incidents; just one Crup ended up slightly hurt cause a group of Slytherins had accidentally applied a potion that was too strong; and Peter's wand had ended uo destroyed, cause even though James and Rachel had de-wormed the animal quite well, they were so distracted that they didn't notice that a group of Chizpurfles had escpaed and gotten into the chubby boy's pocket, nibbling it up to the core, looking for the source of magical power. Finally, Slytherin and Gryffindor had lost 10 points each, though they were recovered by Remus, who earned º5 for being one of the ones that had done it better, like a group of Hufflepuffs who had earned the same amount.

When the bell rang, the Marauders headed at a turtle pace towards the History of Magic classroom, and Remus had a hard time trying not to roll his eyes at his friends' conversation.

"She was almost throwing herself over me" James was saying so arrogantly that anyone who would have heard him would have run away in order to avoid being squashed by his giant head.

"Oh, James, that's cause you're a Marauder. You'll see, it won't be long until _all of them_ threw themselves over us. Lara insisted me until I promised that we should see each other at Hogsmeade sometime… I'll see if I feel like it." Said Sirius.

"We won't be missing company" his friend answered,

"We're here" Remus announced relieved, pushing the two dark-haired boys into the classroom.

**Reviews answers:**

**Team.:I already answered you in a private message, but I answer here again for the restm though without the whole explanation. Yeah, it will be a long fic, because I plan on writing all the years from this to 7th. Thanks for the comment! Hope you liked this one.**


	14. Chapter 14: Confession

**Chapter 14. Anybody reading? If so, tell me what you think of it! Thank you in advance.**

After a particularly boring History of Magic class, Lily, Brianna and Samantha went up the stairs chatting animatedly. The two girls seemed relieved by the fact that the redhead was already in a better mood, which wasn't really a surprise. Despite having a strong character, Lily's bad mood never lasted too much. Once in the seventh floor, the Gryffindors headed to the West Tower instead of going to their own Common Room, and before they could make themselves comfortable to wait, they heard Rebecca's singsong laughter. The girl was leaving Ravenclaw's Common Room hanging off Eli's arm.

"Shall we go?" The boy asked offering her left arm to Sam, who laughed at the gesture. Bree looked at them raising her eyebrows and commented with a smile:

"Such a gentleman" The boy, still holding one girl with each arm, got closer to her as if he was going to tell her a secret and whispered:

"It's the only way of improving my reputation. People already think I'm a bit abnormal" Bree and Sam laughed, while Lily rolled her eyes and Becca pinched his arm, smiling.

"You've earned that reputation on your own," she said, "Considering it's strange that the rest of the Ravenclaws think you're odd. After all, we all are."

"What class did you just have?" Eli asked, changing the subject after childishly sticking his tongue out at his friend.

"History" sighed Brianna, raising her eyes to Heaven as if the word was a synonym of "Deadly boredom".

"You're so exaggerated. History is very interesting" Replied Becca, and everyone rolled their eyes this time. "Come on! You enter the class biased against it, that's the problem."

"Becca… the subject might be interesting, but Professor Binns is just incapable of giving a dynamic class. He's deadly boring" Lily answered. Rebecca was probably the only student in years who enjoyed Professor Binns' classes.

"He probably was boring even when he was alive" Eli added laughing.

When they reached the third floor, Eli freed his arms and opened the Charms Classroom's door, letting his friends in and closing the door behind him.

"I still think there should be some kind of shared Common Room" said Lily, frowning.

"Even though Dumbledore would like it too, they would never make it… There would probably be more fights than anything." Sam answered wisely, shrugging her shoulders.

"At least Professor Flitwick lets us borrow his classroom" said Bree, "He's adorable! He even left us some cushions this time."

At the end of their Second Year, when the Charms Professor had found out that the five friends hanged out at the grounds or the library to chat after class, he had offered them his classroom for their meetings. "I wouldn't want you to freeze during winter!" he had said. "But I must ask you not to stay until late. Otherwise, Professor McGonagall will kill me!"

Rebecca laid on the floor on her stomach over one of the cushions, and her friends made themselves comfortable around her. Lily, Sam and Eli took out their books and parchment in order to make some progress with their homework while they talked. The blonde sighed with resignation.

"Nerds. You can do that when you go back to your Common Room" Finally, Sam was the only one who took notice of her.

"I think we all know what we should talk about today" Becca announced, staring suggestively at Lily, who looked up giving a start.

"I don't fancy Lupin and he doesn't fancy me!" She exclaimed getting on the defensive, provoking the whole group's laughter and blushing after realizing about her mistake.

"That wasn't what I meant, Lils" Becca cleared up, drying the tears from her eyes once she could breath normally again. "I meant the detention."

"Oh" said Lily, lookind down at the book again. "There's not much to be said about it."

Rebecca looked at her half closing her eyes.

"Could you start by telling us what happened?" asked Eli so politely that the redhead knew he was messing her around,, and glared at him. The boy raised his palms, smiling. "Just asking. We weren't there, remember?"

Lily sighed and left her quill aside.

"What happened was that Potter and Black pulled one of their stupid pranks, I got mad and made their cauldron explode. Happy?" She answered wearily.

Knowing she wouldn't add anything else, the Ravenclaws looked at the other two girls.

"They stuffed Snape's nose with Shrinking Solution" clarified the dark-haired girl, while Bree looked at Lily with an expression hard to decipher. Anybody said anything for a moment: they didn't understand who would risk to get a detention for someone like Snape, but they weren't going to reproach her for it.

"Well, Lils, it's not that bad. He's Slughorn, he'll make you classify some potions or something" The boy calmed her down.

"Ah, that's 'cause you haven't heard the worse part. The detention is with Potter and Black." The redhead answered with resignation. "They'll make my life impossible."

"Or, we can find a way to get you to make their lives impossible." Becca said, and they spent the next out planning infinite ways of messing with the Marauders, many of which consisted on cutting, dyeing or setting their hair on fire. Obviously Lily wasn't going to do any of that, but it was fun. At least she could use them as a threat.

When it was time to go back to their respective Common Rooms, they put e+everything in its place and went to the seventh floor again.

"See you tomorrow" Bree said to Eli and Rebecca, waving and turning around to continue walking with her two friends.

When they reached the Fat Lady, they didn't have time to pronounce the password, because someone was leaving the portrait hole at that moment.

"Whassup, stunners?" Greeted them Sirius with a seductive smile, but only Brianna smiled back. Peter walked behind him, staring at Lily with a bit of fear, and finally James and Remus appeared through the hole. The latter looked really sick and had his arm on the dark-haired boy's shoulders. The boy in glasses messed up his hair when he saw the redhead and smirked when he noticed she was approaching to him.

"Remus, are you Ok?" She said placing the back of her hand on his forehead with concern. He smiled at her and nodded.

"Do you want me to call Madame Pomfrey, Lupin" Sam asked frowning. Bree seemed as worried as Lily, and she looked at Sirius in the eye, questioning.

"No, no, don't worry. I'm fine" Said Remus trying to calm them down. The dark rings under his eyes darkened his expression, and his cheekbones seemed to stand out too much. Drops of sweat could be seen on his pale skin, and his honey eyes expressed tiredness. Sam looked at him skeptically, raising an eyebrow and making James smile.

"We got him, don't worry" The boy with glasses said, winking at Perks. "We're taking him to the Hospital Wing, it's probably an indigestion." Now it was Lily's turn to raise an eyebrow, but the boys retook their way before they could ask anything else. While she entered the Common Room after her friends, Brianna turned around, worried, and her big blue eyes met Sirius' grey look, who gave her a soothing smile before turning around again and continuing his way to the Hospital Wing.

...

"If I had to listen to Binns for five more minutes, I would have thrown myself out of the window" Sirius commented flinging himself into the comfortable dark red sofa and throwing his rucksack on the table. A blond first year girl let out a sharp squeak, blushed and jumped from the armchair, running towards the stairs that led to the girls' rooms. Her friend, who was sitting on an armchair next to her, watched her go up and then stared at Sirius, who was looking at the stairs with a smirk on his face. When the boy looked back at her, the little brunette went red as a tomato and stood up, holding her books tightly. Then she looked at James, who had sat next to his friend staring at her with a smile full of white teeth, and with a lot of self control, she went away walking slowly in the same direction as her friend. When they couldn't see her anymore, they heard her ran up the stairs, and Remus sighed sitting on another armchair. Peter made himself comfortable in the place where the brunette had just been sat on.

"Great" the chubby boy said, gaping at the dark-haired boys.

"We are, Petey" said James smiling smugly.

"We'll have to learn to live with it" commented Sirius with arrogance, stretching on his place and putting his hands behind his head.

"Save that for when we're in a public place." Remus asked lying back on his seat. "We got it. You're a couple of heartbrakers."

"Come ooon, ickle Remsie, you don't have girls because you don't want to" Sirius answered mockingly. The lycanthrope couldn't help smiling.

"You're impossible" He said.

"But you love us" James replied, making him laugh. The dark-haired boy straightened his glasses and looked closely at his friend. "You look bad, Remus."

"Today's full moon, right?" asked Peter.

"Lower your voice, Pete" said James,even though the Common Eoom was practically empty. "In a few hours we'll take you toMadame Pomfrey's."

"You don't need to go with me, James" Remus answered with a ghost of a smile in his face.

"Shut it, Moony" Sirius replied without looking at him, watching to fifth year girls who had just entered the place.

"Moony?" The lycanthrope asked with a smile, raising an eyebrow. Sirius looked at him innocently.

"I'll call you that every time you get annoying with this. It suits you; you're kind of a dreamer and have this sick relationship with the moon. It attracts you practically more than women." The dark-haired boy had to dodge a cushion, courtesy of Remus.

"Attracting attention is what doesn't really attract me, Sirius. And actually, girls like Mulroney or Baker don't attract me either." The honey-eyed boy answered. "Besides, who would want to be with me if they knew what I am? I wouldn't deserve anybody.

"And what type of girls attract you, Remus?" James asked ignoring his last comment.

"To begin with, girls that _think_. Girls that respect themselves and the others, that are good people; that are honest and have a personality of their own.

"Come on, Remus, he's not asking you whom do you want to marry. He means a girl to while away the time with: what kind of girls attract you, brunettes, blondes, redheads?" Sirius interrupted him

"Tall, short, skinny, curvy?" James continued. Remus rolled his eyes.

"So, you're saying you wanna marry someone like Evans, Boot, or one of those." Sirius said. The dark-haired boy in glasses got tense at that comment, and Remus looked at him cautiously.

"That's not what I said, Sirius" he said, looking at him raising his eyebrows. "But now that we're on the subject… Look James, we understand that you like Lily, but you don't have to go into a huff whenever you're close to her, cause we're the ones who end up paying for it. Besides, you won't get anything behaving like you do. Lily is not like the rest of the girls.

"And why the hell do you think that I…?" James started to say, sitting up and glaring at the lycanthrope.

"Save yourself, James" Sirius interrupted him with a bored expression on his face. "_It's obvious. _And you fancy her since first year. Don't lie to yourself, mate." He added when the dark-haired boy opened his mouth to complain. "You may tell yourself that you never paid her more attention than usual, and that it's just fun to bother her, but you know it's not true." James didn't answer and crossed his arms frowning.

"During first and second year you just pulled some pranks at her like at any other, but you know very well that she caught your attention since the beginning." Remus kept on as delicately as he could. "And that's fine. But we need you to admit it, at least in your mind, so that you stop sulking for no apparent reason when you see her with Snape, or when she ignores you." The dark-haired boy with glasses shifted in his seat and looked at the honey-eyed boy. "The way you behave when you're with her is a different kettle of fish, and it's not of our business."

"Basically, James, we're asking you to stop being an asshole to us or to any other persona round you when the redhead shows up." Sirius summed up. James looked at his friend in the eye and ended up smiling, laying back on the sofa, frustrated.

"That redhead is gonna drive me insane" he said. Remus smiled, satisfied, and Peter gave a hint of a shy smile. Sirius, on the other hand, patted his shoulder saying:

"You're a Marauder, Jamie. Very son, you'll have her at your feet."

After a couple of ours, Remus decided it was time to go to the Hospital Wing. He was very weak and his whole body ached, and James had to help him stand up from the armchair.

"Thanks, James" he said, looking at him in the eye. James smiled and winked.

"Thank _you_, Remus" he answered. Sirius looked at them with a fake disgusted expression.

"Come on, girls. Let's go, before you start shedding some tears."


	15. Chapter 15: Detention and new troubles

_**Well, chapter 15 up! It's pretty different to the rest of them cause a review on the Spanish version of this story helped me realize that the story was quite slow, and if I didn't rushed things a bit I would never get to the seventh year. Thjat's also why it took me so long to update, cause I was thinking about what to do to write the fic as I wanted to (showing how the relationship developed) withour writing five 300 pages novels.  
Hope you like it, reviews are much appreciated! **_

The rest of the first week of school went by quicker than expected, and son every student at Hogwarts had gotten used to the life at the castle again. Many of them, Sam and Eli among them, were already wondering when would the Quidditch teams' try outs begin, and which house would have the best team this year, while James Potter assured anyone who wouls listen that Gryffindor would be the champion again thanks to his amazing and innate gift as a chaser, and of course, thanks to the rest of the team which was also very good. Lily, as it was usual, didn't pay much attention to all that sports chatter; of course she was really happy whenever the lions won, and she had fun at the matches too, but she wasn't _that _much into it as the ninety per cent of the school's magical population was. Besides, those days she had another worry in her mind: Remus. After that night they had met him leaving the Common Room, looking as if he was terribly ill, she hadn't seen him around the castle, and when she had asked Madame Pomfrey about him the woman had thrown her out of the Hospital Wing saying that the sick needed to rest, and subtly avoiding answering what the boy had. After talking about it with her friends (among whom the sweet Bree was also worried despite not knowing Lupin that much), she had decided she had no other choice but to ask the marauders. Potter seemed pleasantly surprised when she addressed him in Divination, but only dodged the issue and answered her questions in an irritating snotty tone. Finally the redhead had gotten sick of it and had given up, obtaining the same results when questioning Sirius and Peter. She just hoped Remus was fine, and that he took up classes again… But Friday had come again and there wasn't a trace of the lycanthrope.

"Time will pass faster than you think, Lils," Brianna was saying once the last class in the afternoon was over. "Slughorn is gonna give you something easy to do, don't worry"

"What I am worried about is having to spent time with two spoiled brats," answered the redhead with a sigh. "But well, I asked for it."

When they reached the staircase, Sam stopped.

"I leave you here," she said "I said I'd meet Eli too fly for a while, I gotta go upstairs to look for him. Bree, Becca is coming to watch, so if you want after going with Lily you can come too"

"I'll see what I do, maybe I should start with the Transfiguration's essay, I'm late with that one… See you, Sam!" the brunette answered, waving at her friend. Lily smiled with a bit of resignation and waved too, continuing her way to the dungeons.

"Lils!" called Sam going down a flight of stairs to catch them up. "Bailey has just told me that the try outs are today at seven. He didn't notify us in advance cause they were programmed for Monday, but the Hufflepuffs had booked the pitch. Can you tell Potter?" The redhead grimaced but nodded, saluting her like a soldier.

Once in the first floor, the girls heard a couple of familiar voices.

"This time it was pretty hard, huh?"

"Yeah, pretty bad. Although I've been fine this last three days, but Madame Pomfrey has forced me to stay." When she Heard the second voice, Lily smiled widely and ran towards the Hospital Wing's door.

"Remus!" she exclaimed hugging the surprised boy. Next to him, Sirius gave a hint of a half smile: even though the redhead had a bad temper and was a killjoy, he could tell she cared about the lycanthrope. "I'm glad you're fine already, I was worried! And any of your friends condescended to tell me what was wrong with you…" Sirius rolled his eyes, making Brianna smile, who knew that her friend could be pretty persistent when she aimed to.

"Lily! You shouldn't have worried, I'm fine. It was an indigestion, as James said, and pretty strong." The girl fixed her eyes on him, scrutinizing his face, and in his eyes she could see something that looked like…plea? Whatever it was what had gotten Remus sick, he didn't want to tell her and she understood it. She smiled warmly and the lycanthrope relaxed, smiling too.

Brianna didn't believe it either, and she stared at Sirius in the eye, questioning. The dark-haired boy looked away, absent-mindedly rubbing the back of his neck with his hand: those huge and round blue eyes would have forced him to tell the truth if he hadn't done so.

"Well, I'm truly glad you're fine. Whenever you want I can lend you the notes you need, but now I have to go to the _detention."_ When she said the last word, Lily pursed her lips and looked at Sirius with a bit of rancour. The dark-haired boy couldn't help smiling.

"If you wait for me we can go together, redhead. I was going to walk Remus to the Common Room, Pete is there doing McGonagall's homework." He said.

"What 'bout your mate? He's thinking about skipping the detention?· she asked folding her arms. "And I rather want you to call me Evans." Sirius sighed, exasperated.

"Of course not, _Evans_. He's probably already there; he was flying around with his broom, we was going straight to Slughorn's office." He answered.

"I'll go with Lupin, Black, you can just go. I was about to go to the Common Room, I should get on with Transfiguration too." Brianna offered shrugging her shoulders. Remus looked at her slightly frowning. "I know you're not useless, Lupin, but if you've just recovered from an…_indigestion, _you're probably pretty weak. Besides, who doesn't enjoy company?" the small brunette said when she saw his expression. Sirius beamed thankful and said goodbye to the two Gryffindors, following Lily, who had already started walking.

"You're pretty stroppy, y'know?" the dark-haired boy said once she had catched up with her.

"I've been told." She answered curtly. Sirius shook his head slightly smiling and quit trying to chat with her.

When they arrived, they found James leaning against the wall with his hands on his pockets. At the sight of Lily, he messed up his hair.

·Evans, did you have to bring my friend to out date? We're a bit grown-ups for needing chaperons." Sirius let out a guffaw, but the redhead glared at the boy in glasses.

Right then, Professor Slughorn showed up panting.

"I had completely forgotten about the detention," he told them drying the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief he took out of his pocket. Black whispered something to Potter that included the word 'walrus' and they both chuckled. Lily shut them up with her eyes, scowling angrily. "You just have to clasify and tag the ingredients in the second cupboard (they are really untify) and throw away everything that is in bad condition. I hope it doesn't take too long, because actually I have to… Although, miss Evans, given the fact that you're here," he said, interrumting himself in the middle of a sentence and staring at Lily lightly surprised, as if he still couldn't conceive that she had a detention. "I trust you: I'll leave you alone, I know you're responsible and you won't leave until everything is done."

"Thanks, professor" answered the redhead with her polite smile. James stared at her a slightly spellbound and Sirius had to hit him to make him stop, but no one else noticed. Slughorn smiled thankful and left to do whatever he had to.

Lily looked at the dark-haired boys half-closing her eyelids, as if she was waiting them to vanish leaving her to do all the work. The boys stared at her with a couple of identical innocent smiles, and the redhead ended up smiling a little, but hided it immediately.

"Well, let's get started." She said, entering the room and opening both door of the dusty cupboard. Sirius took a jar covered with dirt and blowed in order to see its content, crinkling his nose. "This is rotten." He said, and left it aside. James got closer and took a couple of jars too before the surprised Lily. Potter looked at her raising an eyebrow.

"Why so surprised? With so many detentions we have to learn to be efficient or we would spent hours in detention." He said. Lily thought about it for a while and decided it was coherent. "Unless you want us to stay for a little longer, redhead. Though we would have to ask Sirius to leave us on our own." Black smiled absent-mindedly, shaking a jar to decipher what was its content and Evans rolled her eyes.

"Flobberworm Mucus, Black," she said just glancing at the jar he was holding. "And Potter, seven 'o clock you have the Quidditch try outs.

"Wow, that was fast. It seems we're gonna optimize time even better." Said Sirius still staring at his jar.

"At seven? Crap, we better hurry with this." Potter answered.

They worked quicklu, but the cupboard was crammed with jars of all sizes, and it looked as if they were never going to runo ut of them. James and Sirius chatted animatedly, while Lily didn't opened her mouth during the whole afternoon. It was pretty boring, but at least they didn't bother her. When it felt as if they'd been there for ages, Potter started to complain in a low voice.

"Come on, mate, Bailey knows you're good, he'll keep you a chaser's spot." Sirius calmed him down, taking the hair out of his face with a movement of his head. Lily looked at them out of the corner of her eye and then looked down to her wrist watch: it was 6.45 already. She bit her lip and sighed, looking at the ceiling.

"Go, Potter. Black and I will finish what we've got left." She said monotonically, looking apparently concentrated at the tag of a red bottle. James smiled but the girl didn't look at him.

"Thanks, Evans." He just said, and left the dungeons in a hurry. Once he had left, Sirius stared at Lily with a half smile. Feeling observed, she looked at the dark-haired boy out of the corner of her eye and could see that his grey eyes seemed amused.

"What?" she spitted out, putting a couple of bottles in his hands to make him keep working.

"Nothing," He said, shaking his head and getting serious, although his eyes still smiled. "Sometimes you are not that bad, redhead."

Once the entire cupboard was tidy and clasified, the two Gryffindors heavily went up the stone steps. When the boy saw her classmate was heading to the wooden doors too, he asked:

"Are you gonna see Perks, or Boot is trying out too?"

"Sam. And we're not friends, Black," she clarified raising an eyebrow. Sirius looked at he and couldn't notice if she was completely serious about it (after all, they didn't like each other) or if there was an amused sparkle in her green eyes. "Today was kind of a…truce. I could use to be left alone, but that's it."

"Ah, I know, Evans. We still have some unfinished business to settle with ya." He said, winking and opening the door before the girl could complain.

When they reached the Quidditch pitch the try-outs had already finished and Sam walked towards them smiling.

"I see you got it again." Lily smiled at her. At that moment, Brianna, Rebecca, Eli, Remus and Peter (who had been on the bleachers watching the players' selection) joined them.

"Congratulations, Perks, you flied really well." Said Lupin politely. Samantha blushed and took the bangs out of he reyes. While her friends congratulated her, James approached them with that smug smirk which made Lily want to erase it throw punches. Sirius received him raising both thumbs and Potter raised his arms and bowed his head as if he was being applauded by a crowd, and Pettigrew's anxious claps didn't keep people waiting. Both the redhead and Sam snorted, while Bree shook her head.

"Well done, Potter." Told him Eli while his friends steped away from the Marauders. James looked at him superciliously, but smiled a bit when he realized he was sincere.

"As always," he said. Eli laughed. "But thanks, Rivers. By the way, you and Moon better stay away from the trainings: Bailey is pretty paranoid and I've already heard him accusing you of spying." Rebecca seemed to hear her name and turned around.

"Tell him not to worry, I come here to see men, not Quidditch techniques." She said winking and making Lupin smile sideways. Sirius, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and whispered an indecorous insult that regrettably was heard by the blonde, who answered with a simple finger gesture without even turning around to look at him.

"Well, female Gryffindor players are really pretty too." Eli said more to himself than to be heard, and went away to join his friends, bowing at the marauders as he left.

"Aren't there just two female players in the team?" Asked Sirius. "Abbot (a sixt-year), who isn't really a beauty, and Perks."

"Perks' not bad…" James commented. "Leaving the terrible mood aside and stuff."

"Did the team changed a lot?" asked Sirius, changing the subject.

"Nope, it's the same, we just replaced Clearwater as a beater and Dickinson as a chaser; they both finished school last year. How was the detention? The rest of it, I mean."

"Not bad. Evans and I devoted our time to snog until we got sick of it, and only then we came here to see you." Sirius had to dodge James' broom, who was heading directly to his face.

"Sirius, can't you ever shut it?" Remus sighed trying not to laugh.

The following months went by calmly and without many news, and the cold rainy season quickly passed. The students were bussier and bussier, and Quidditch was one of the few things that let them relax. The Gryffindor team had proved to be as good as it was said, and the Ravenclaws hadn't fell begind, being the main candidates to win the Cup, judging it just by the first two matches. The first weekend at Hogsmeade was the other great attraction for the older students, especially for the third years, who hadn't been there before.

Just as her friends had predicted, they had to drag Lily out of Honeydukes, and the redhead assured that the only shop that equaled it was The Three Broomsticks, thanks to the delicious and comforting butterbeer they served.

The marauders had had a good time at the village as well, and had spent practically all they were carrying at Zonkos, enjoying in advance their future pranks. Also, at the end of the trip, they had met a group of girls that had chased through the school the whole week until they had ended up inviting them to the local pub. Barker and Mulroney were the lucky chosen ones, and they had taken with them two of their friends (a gorgeous Hufflepuff with clear eyes and a Ravenclaw who had a dazzling smile.), transforming the trip into a 'quadruple date' that Remus wasn't very pleased about. And those dates were just the beginning of a long list, though they had ended up merely being double dates: James and Sirius and a couple of girls, different each time.

As it was expected, most of Zonko's supplies were used in pranks to the Slytherins, especially Snape, but they also saved a few to Evans and her friends, who didn't find funny at all being the new center of attention of the Marauders. Of course they paid them back in their own way, leaving the four friends with some hurt limbs every time they messed with them.

December arrived, and with it, the Christmassy atmosphere invaded Hogwarts.

"Great, next weekend we have a visit to Hogsmeade, we can buy the Christmas presents then." Sam said reading the note on the announcements board. There were many students on the Common Room, but the armchairs in front of the chimney were almost empty. Brianna, her books and parchments all over the table, was sitting on the floor doing anything but Charms' homework. Lily, who had finished with everything, was lying on her back on the sofa reading a muggle book, with her head on the armrest and her long red hair falling naturally. Near the table, right next to her rucksack, were her shoes.

When Sam spoke, Bree looked up and smiled.

"Just as well, I could use a weekend to clear out my mind. Thank God Christmas is coming."

At that moment, the Marauders went through the portrait hole making racket as usual. Sam let out a soft moan when she saw them enter: she was fed up to theback teeth with them. Lily just ignored them.

The four boys approached the chimney to warm themselves up: all of their noses were red for being in the grounds. Remus and Peter sat on the two left armchairs and Sirius got closer to the fire rubbing his hands. James, who had sighted Evans when he entered, walked towards them haughtily and leaned against the lycanthrope's armchair, slowly taking off his gloves with his eyes glued to the girl, who showed no sign of noticing his presence.

"You are the one I was looking for, Evans," he said winking and messing up his hair. Lupin looked at him as a warning, but Potter made a gesture with his hand taking the importance out of it. Lily looked up with a bored expression on her face, fixed her green eyes on James for a second and looked down to her book again, but the dark-haired boy pretended he hadn't taken the hint. "I've just found out that next weekend there's a trip to Hogsmeade, and I decided to do you a favour."

Brianna suddenly looked up and glanced at Lupin, who shook his head resigned: James was getting into trouble. Sam, instead, smiled slightly maliciously, but Lily was still focused on the reading.

"Given the fact that you're so shy, I'm gonna spare you from the problema. I know you're dying to go out with me, so I'm inviting you to Hogsmeade."

Every female Gryffindor in the room (who were paying attention to the boy's words) glared enviously at Lily, and some of the boys stop doing what they were doing to listen to the conversation. Bree and Sam, who knew their friend, immediately recognized that the red colour on the redhead's face wasn't shame, but rage, and judging by his expression, Lupin seemed to suspect the same thing. Lily slowly closed the book and sitting straight carefuly placed i ton the table, looking at Potter with an apparently blank stare, but he thought he had seen in them a green sparkle.

"Look, Potter," she said, a slight shaking in her voice revealing her anger. "I'm telling this to you once, and I want to make it quite clear. Even though you have the wrong idea that you're some kind of god who is desired by every girl, I think you're just a self-centered, overbearing brat. I don't like you and I don't want to go out with you."

Every woman in the room seemed outraged, except for Perks, who seemed to find the situation quite fun, and for Boot, who bit her lips waiting for Lily to explode. However, the girl seemed to realize that that was going to happen if she stayed in the Common Room listening to whatever Potter was going to answer, so she took her stuff and headed to the stairs that led to the rooms.

For a thousandth of a second, James seemed a bit surprised, but instantly he yelled:

"Come on, redhead! You know you do want me. But if it embarrases you, we can do it any other time."

And that was just the beggining of the whole thing.

_**Did you like it? Hope so! Tell me what you think!**_

_**(No reviews in the last two chapters, hope I get lucky with this one..:P)**_


	16. Chapter 16: A step closer

_**Well, chapter 16 up! This one's longer than the others, and has a little bit of everything (You'll see when you read it that the title works for many things going on in this chapter). Hope you really enjoy it, and tell me what you think about it!**_

_**FOURTH YEAR**_

The girl carefuly placed the newspaper on the table, sighing and frowning with concern. Her bright green eyes, which stood out on her pale face covered with clear freckles, expressed anguish, glued to the title that could be read on _The Daily Prophet'_s cover: ANOTHER MUGGLE FAMILY, MURDERED. The article related that they had been tortured by a supremacist blood-pureness group, part of an association of wizards that called themselves 'Death Eaters', whose ideas were being spread faster and faster, acquiring more followers every day. The organization's leader gave his name as 'Lord Voldemort', and day by day his name became more known and feared by the whole wizarding community. It was even becoming a costume not to pronounce the name, as if the mere fact of doing so would attract him and the death and tragedies he was surrounded by.

Lily forced herself to stop thinking about it, closing her eyes and holding her hair in a ponytail with both hands, then released it and let the long red hair fall back on its place. Her face, despite being angular and delicate as always, seemed to have changed: it was noticeable that the girl had grown. This was evident too in her body; even though the long, black robes didn't show it, were it used to be skinny and straight, now there were curves and a tiny wasp waist.

She had grown up regarding her personality too: although she had always been a mature girl, now she was more capable of controlling her explosive temper, which allowed people to get to know her better. She had always been a really sweet girl, but now everybody knew her because of that. She was very liked by her classmates and professors, and everyone found her charming, even though sometimes her bad temper reemerged to the surface, especially if someone messed with her friends. To sum it up, she was more popular now even if she didn't mean too, and that had led a lot of boys who hadn't noticed her before to start paying attention to her. Probably the changes in her body had helped too; after all, we're talking about teenagers driven by hormones. Snape wasn't quite happy about it, and neither was certain black-haired marauder, whose dailies declarations of love had possibly contributed to the redhead's popularity.

Lily opened her eyes again and casted them over the library. It was pretty empty, which was to be expected given the fact that the following day was the beginning of the Holy Week, but anyway some students occupied the tables around her. A couple especially caught her attention: A grey-eyed boy of aristocratic features and silky black hair accompanied by a slight brunette of tight curls. Brianna's soft laughter echoed in the quiet library, and the girl covered her mouth when she noticed so. Black smiled, flashing two rows of shiny teeth and looked back at the book, explaining something in a low voice. Lily was a bit surprised by such familiarity, and frowned worried. Since last year, they had both started to get on pretty well (to Sam and Becca's horror), but the redhead was afraid that Bree got to feel something else for the marauder, who was known for dating anything with a skirt and breaking all of their hearts. When she expressed her fears to her friend, she had laughed, assuring her that they were just friends, and that she knew perfectly well how the boy behaved with women. Lily didn't have a hard time understanding why they got along: Sirius, despite being self-centered and conceited, was smart and fun, and Brianna had such a quiet and tolerant personality that she didn't mind at all the fact that Black was pretty much of a prat, and by standing that characteristic, she could see beyond it and get to know the person that, according to Lupin, Black really was. Remus was a lot like Bree in that aspect.

The redhead stared more carefully at her friend, thinking about how the relationship between her and the dark-haired boy had started to develop.

***Flashback***

"I knew you would end up leaving Divination" Sam said from the sofa once Lily had arrived to the Common Room and announce the news to her friends.

"You missed me that much, redhead?" Potter asked with his usual smugness, sitting on one of the armchairs. After two whole months, Professor McGonagall had transferred him to the subject he had originally requested, and James swore that it had taken so long to punish him for all his pranks since first year. Lily rolled her eyes and ignored him, but Bree, sitting on the floor with her back on Sam's sofa, smiled a bit.

"Your friend has given you away," said Black sitting on the floor, smiling and waving a finger pointing at the brunette, leaving his quill on the table. "You dropped the subject 'cause you couldn't leave without James."

"Why are you sitting with these blokes?" Lily asked with a groan, making herself room next to Samantha, who was sprawled out in the sofa. Lupin, sitting on another armchair, raised an eyebrow. "No offense, Remus, I didn't say it because of you, and neither because of you, Pettigrew." The chubby boy smiled at the redhead, but the smile disappeared immediately when Sirius threw him a parchment ball.

"We're not sitting _with_ them; they arrived and sat there, sadly I can't throw them out. And after this morning's tough training I really don't feel like moving somewhere else to do my Arithmancy homework" answered the tall girl, stretching an arm in order to reach the book that had fallen to the floor.

"Ah, I should start doing Arithmancy stuff too," said the redhead. "Or maybe Transfiguration…" Brianna let out a moan, placing her head on the armchair and closing her eyes.

"I had forgotten about Transfiguration homework," she said, frustrated. "I hate Transfiguration…"

"Then don't do it" Black said simply.

"Who's talking to you?" Samantha said rudely, and this time was her turn to receive a parchment ball right in the middle of her forehead. "I would hit you if I had the strength to do so, but I can't move and my wand is too far away. Remind me to do it later."

"I would love not to do it if I could, Black," said Bree, stretching her legs and dragging herself towards the table. "But I don't have your brains, I need good marks on my homework or the exams won't be enough."

"You know? I like you, Boot." Sirius said, and James laughed.

"You like anyone who flatters you, Sirius" the lycanthrope added with a half smile. The boy in question childishly stuck his tongue out at him and Brianna laughed.

"You see? You 're nice. You should teach that to your friends," he said. "And only because of that I'll help you with your Transfiguration homework, it's a piece of cake.

***End of flashback***

Even if it's hard to believe, Black had actually helped Brianna with her homework, though they had ended up getting distracted by throwing parchment balls at their friends. Since that day, they had both gradually get to know each other a bit better, chatting between classes and running into each other at the Common Room. They had even started calling each other by their first name. They weren't best friends nor they spent lots of time together, but they got along, and every once in a while Sirius offered to help the girl with Transfiguration, as they were doing right then.

"Why so worried?" said a voice next to her, startling her.

"Why are you always so stealthy?" Lily asked in a low voice, smiling and looking up.

"I'm not stealthy, you're absent-minded." Remus answered in the same tone. "What where you frowning about?" he asked, sitting in front of her and glancing at the newspaper that rested don the table.

"A bit of everything… The attacks towards the muggles, mainly, but now I was thinking about Bree…" She answered honestly.

"Are you worried 'cause she's hanging out with Sirius?" the perceptive lycanthrope inquired. Lily nodded.

"I'm afraid she'll feel something about Black and that he'll hurt her." She said.

"If it does you any good, Sirius has always said that he thinks of her as a good friend," Remus clarified. "We asked him about it a while ago; James wanted to know if he just wanted to hook up with her, but he told us that she wasn't one of his pickups. Unusual in Sirius, actually."

At that moment, a curvy blonde flopped down in the chair next to Lupin, flooding the place with a flowery scent.

"The two lovebirds wouldn't stop talking about Quidditch, so I abandoned them." She said as a greeting.

"Lovebirds?" the redhead asked, puzzled.

"Sam and Eli," she answered, and Lily's eyes opened wide. "Well, 'lovebirds' isn't the right word. But Eli definitely fancies Sam, I know him. I'll extract the information from him later. Hi, Lupin." The lycanthrope laughed.

"Hi." He said. The blonde took off his shoes with her own feet and lied back on her chair. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Madame Pince won't like that." She said.

"Whatever, I just took off my shoes; I didn't start running among the bookshelves throwing the books at the floor." Rebecca answered shrugging and taking the wavy hair out of her face with her hand. At that moment, she saw Sirius and Brianna and wrinkled her nose. "Who would wave said so, Bree being friends with a marauder. You don't count as a marauder, Lupin" she clarified.

"Should I feel flattered by that?" he asked laughing, and the redhead chuckled too.

"Of course," answered the blonde smiling mischievously. "I don't get what you are doing in the library… Tomorrow starts Holy Week, for Merlin's sake." She added, opening a book that was on the table and having a look at it. Lupin smiled.

"Tomorrow starts Holy Week, Becca, but we have tons of homework to do, you should start too." Lily scolded her, getting her book back and opening it on the right page.

"Boring," she murmured, and then addressed the lycanthrope. "And where are your other two mates? They must think like me: no homework today.

"Actually, they're at the Hospital Wing… Peter shouldn't be allowed to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts outside the classroom," he answered, shaking his head. "They're just a few burns; James was just taken him to Madame Pomfrey's. I still don't get how he managed to hurt himself."

At that momento Sirius showed up rather breathless and dropped a heavy book on the table.

"I think I got it, Moony" he said, his voice slightly shaking because of the contained emotions. He seemed elated. Behind him appeared Brianna as puzzled as Lily was now.

"Moony?" asked Becca sardonically. Black glared at her and gave the book to Remus while taking out a mirror out of his robes' pocket.

"What…?" Lily started asking, staring first at Remus, who read concentrated and surprised something she couldn't see, and then at bree, who shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

"James Potter!" said Sirius looking at his reflection on the mirror. Rebecca opened her mouth to make fun of him, but closed it surprised when Black's face's reflex transformed into another dark-haired boy.

"James, I think I got it," Sirius repeated when his friend appeared. "Come to the library." Potter nodded and disappeared, and the mirror reflected the grey-eyed boy again.

"It's a two way mirror." Lupin explained to the perplex girls. Lily stared curiously at her friend: in his eyes, a strange sparkle had appeared, and the redhead couldn't tell if it was joy or concern. Maybe both.

None of the three girls asked what was that fuss all about, because it wasn't really of their bussiness, but Lily looked at the book out of the corner of her eye, trying to read the title. Black noticed it and took the book, quickly putting it into his rucksack, and realizing just then that in the middle of the discovery's excitement, he had forgotten that they were listening to his words.

Soon after it, Potter and Pettigrew (whose right arm was completely covered with bandages) entered panting (actually, Peter seemed about to suffocate.) and approached the table.

Lily immediately sat straight, getting on the defensive and looking anywhere but James Potter, whom, while noticing it, pulled an involuntary grimace, and then addressed Black.

"So?" ha asked, anxious, looking at his friends and then running his eyes through the table, looking for what Sirius had said he had found. The grey-eyed boy patted surreptitiously his rucksack and made a gesture with his head towards the door. James looked around and understood.

"If you excuse us, ladies," he said, smiling at the three girls. "We're leaving."

Remus stood up and said goodbye to them with a "See you later.", leaving the library at a quick pace after his friends.

"What's gotten into them?" Lily asked to her regret, being unable to hide her curiosity.

"I've no idea," answered Brianna, intrigued. "All I know is that we were calmly doing my Transfiguration homework and Sirius begun checking some book that was on the table. I think it was a Transfiguration's one too, but I took it by mistake 'cause it was advanced, like for seventh-years or something… I wanted to get a book that was under it and it opened, and that's when Sirius saw something, 'cause like I said he took it, read something in it and then came here, apologizing in a hurry."

Before the redhead or Becca could express their opinions on the topic, James Potter came back to the library running and approached the girls' table. Bree was about to ask him what he had left behind, but the boy messed up his hair and sat in front of Lily, whom, being a bit puzzled, lowered her guard, forgetting that Potter was a prick and getting lost for a second in his hazel eyes.

"Would you go out with me, Evans?" he asked with an innocent smile, and Lily let out a guffaw. Instantly, both her and James opened their eyes wide, and before he could add anything else, the redhead hurried to answer.

"No."

"I can't stay to tell you the disadvantages of that decision 'cause my mates are waiting. Sirius is probably pretty irritated by now. See ya later, redhead." He said, winking and leaving the library again.

Lily shook her head and couldn't help smiling a little.

"That was quite cute." Bree commented observing her friend's reaction. Lily looked at her, getting serious, and said:

"It was the same as always: Potter being a pedantic bighead who asks me out to bug me."

"Well, I think he actually wants to go out with you." Rebecca interjected, putting her shoes back on.

"If he wants to go out with me it's simply to brag about it later." Lily replied stubbornly, foccusing on her homework again. Rebecca stood up, willing to leave.

"Whatever, Lils…" she said. "I'm leaving; being shut away in the library a day like today is not very tempting."

"I'm coming with you," said Bree, taking her stuff and standing up too. "Lily?"

"I'm staying, see you later."

…

"You're a moron, James," said Sirius when his friend came out of the library again, but he couldn't hide his smile. "You don't have to ask her out _every_ damn time you see her."

"It was worth it: I made her laugh." The dark-haired boy with glasses answered, smiling triumphantly.

"Well done, James!" praised him Peter.

"Don't get so excited, Pete. He probably imagined it," Said Sirius, patting the sandy-haired boy in the back and continuing to walk. "As I was saying, it has been right under our noses all this time! It was coincidence that Brianna took out that book by mistake and that I got to read the passage about Animagi, but it has all the information that was missing."

"Excellent!" James exclaimed, placing his arm around Peter's shoulders. "We're much closer to actually making it."

To make sure no one would hear them, the Marauders decided to gather the information they had in their room, so that's where they headed. James, Sirius and Peter were truly cheerful, and their laughter echoed in the castle as they walked by, but Remus on the other hand was quiet and gloomy all the way to the Common Room.

Once in their bedroom, Sirius took out the book from his rucksack and Peter, making a lot of effort, took out a pile of heavy books that were under his bed while James took care of soundproofing the room with a spell very used by students since last year: _Muffliato_. The lycanthrope just sat on his bed, lost in thought, without saying a single word. When he turned around to announce they could speak freely, the boy in glasses detected his mate's expression and approached to him.

"What's wrong, Remus?" he asked with concern. The honey-eyed boy raised his eyes to his friend and sighed.

"You can't do this, James." He said. Sirius stood up from his place and got closer too.

"What are you talking about, Moony? You had already said yes! We're not doing this hastily, and we're almost there!" the dark-haired boy exclaimed looking at his friend in the eye.

"I can't allow you to do this for me. Yes, I said yes, but it didn't sound real when we first thought about it, it didn't seem as it was ever going to actually happen. Now we're too close. It's not a game, it's not another prank to the Slytherins, and the problem is not that you'll break thousands of rules. The problem is that you are gonna risk your _lives. _You can't do that for me." The lycanthrope said, and his voice broke at the last sentenced. Peter, sitting on the floor among the books, raised his sandy-haired head and glued his little glassy eyes in Remus.

"We want to do it, Remus." He said. A single tear crossed the honey-eyed boy face, and a sort of smile appeared on his mate's rodent features. Sirius approached to Peter and patted his back with a half smile.

"Stop acting like you don't deserve it. We know you'd do the same for us." James added.

"Thank you." Lupin said, after some minutes of silence. James and Peter smiled, and Sirius threw a pillow at the lycanthrope.

"Damn, Moony, you better not make a scene every time we talk about this." He said.

"Promised." His friend answered laughing and raising his right hand.

They spent a couple of hours revising and summarizing everything they had, making sure they weren't leaving anything out.

Animagic is an acquired ability, which can only be accomplished by powerful and skillful wizards or witches. The process to become and Animagus is long, complicated and dangerous, and to learn so you need a lot of patience, determination and magic. During the training, a magical wand is needed, but once it is completed, the Animagus can transform into an animal at will at any time, with or without a wand. Clothes and personal elements are not a problem, as during the transformation they become part of the animal (this is very useful when it comes to recognizing qualified Animagi, as many times they become the marks that permit the identification; for instance, glasses of a certain shape may become the marks around the animal form's eyes, which would allow to recognize it and distinguish it from the regular animals.)

Each Animagus can transform into a specific animal, which is no chosen by the wizard but determined by his personality and inner traits. Thus, the Animagus form is the reflection of one's inner-nature.

That was all that, in short, the Marauders knew about Animagi; to it, they could add a list of the neccesary steps to learn and achieve the transformation, and a group of unfortunate consequences in case of failure.

"I wonder what my Animagus form will be" James sad lying on his back on the bed, practicing some wand movements. Around him, seven Quidditch players dressed in purple flew across the posters glued to the wall.

"Merlin, James, you know those movements by heart, we mastered them at the beginning of third year. It's time to start with the hard part." Sirius complained, walking around the room.

"You better know how to to the basic stuff perfectly before moving on with the rest of it." The lycanthrope scolded him, giving Peter a sidelong glance. The chubby boy had done a hard work to master the initial part of the training, but with a lot of help he had greatly improved and now it didn't seem so impossible for him to make it.

"The basic stuff is not what worries us, Remus, it's just another Transfiguration lesson. The most important part is all the inner work and concentration required, learning to control our mind to do it," the dark-haired, grey-eyed boy replied. "I want to continue with that, now that we have the last piece of information and we can move on."

"You're right, Sirius. I just wanted to take it easy this time," James answered, sitting up and leaving the wand aside. "Well, what animal you think you'll be?" he asked again.

"I bet Evans would say that you'll be a slug or something to that effect." Sirius answered, dodging an empty chocolate frog box that flew towards him like a projectile.

"It was empty, Remus, relax." The dark-haired boy with glasses laughed when his mate hurried to put away the rest of the chocolate frogs in his night table drawer, so that they couldn't be used as weapons anymore.

"I'll probably become something great, like a lion." Sirius fantasized, standing straight and thrusting his chest out. Remus shook his head.

"Or a puma!" said Peter.

"Or a pig, if we consider what some girls say about you." Potter added as a payback, and this time was his turn to dodge a ball of socks.

"Birds would never say such a thing about me. They worship me." Sirius replied arrogantly, and his friends rolled their eyes.

"I'll return the books we won't be using anymore." James said, standing up and taking his wand, putting a few books into his rucksack. "It's a bit late, I'm taking the cloak"

"James, would you bring me something to eat?" Peter asked timidly. Only then they realized they had completely forgotten aboyt dinner. With the perfect timing, Sirius stomach complained about the lack of food.

"Sure, Pete, I'll bring something to all of us. Thanks Merlin we know where are the kitchens.

…

The redhead put the books in their shelves and put on her bag on her shoulder, sighing. It was a bit late, but she had been really concentrated and Madame Pince had waited for a while before telling her that it was time to go to her Common Room, because she sort of liked the redhead for being extremely careful with the books. Finally, the woman had asked her kindly (something rare in her) to go to her room.

Lily left the library thoughtful, but this time it was neither Bree nor Voldemort who was worrying her: she was thinking about Potter. Yes, big-headed Potter and his annoying invitations to go out with him. During their whole third year, he had spent his time asking her out over and over again, at class, at the corridors, leaving stupid notes written on parchment inside her rucksack. And this year he had kept on with that. At first, Lily had found it pretty irritating, but thought he'd grow out of it: it was just a new way of bothering her, besides of the no end of pranks she was a victim of. But he hadn't grown out of it, and the redhead had begun to find it even offensive: it wasn't a nice way of making fun of a person. What if Lily would have been a credulous girl and would have said yes to the invitation, thinking it was real? He would have laughed at her face, humilliating her. Or maybe, if it was like Rebecca said and the boy really wanted to go out with her, and she naively would have accepted, he probably would have told everybody about it, maybe even spreading that she had slept with him or something like it. Luckily, Lily wasn't one of those silly teenagers whom so easily fell in love. Anyway, it wasn't very nice from Potter to keep doing it.

Yes, Lupin said he was a nice boy and a great friend, but the redhead didn't see that part of him, to tell you the truth. From what she knew, Potter and his mate Black spent their time screwing up Sev's life, making pranks (some of them were fun and witty, she had to admit it), boasting about their intelligence and good looks in front of every girl, well: strutting around as if they owned the bloody world.

But today, she had _laughed _at something Potter had said. Shit. Why had she done that? Yes, he had entered the library in a hurry, as if he had forgotten something, just to ask her out, but Potter always did that unpredictable, stupid stuff. Well, it had been a bit funny, actually. And witty. But he was Potter. She didn't find Potter funny, nor anything he did. She shouldn't have laughed, and she shouldn't have lowered her guard, no matter how pretty the tiny brown spots on his hazel eyes were. What? No, no, no. Shit. Potter wasn't hot, and his eyes weren't pretty either. Well, maybe a little, but that didn't matter, he was an arrogant prat.

Lost in thought, the redhead had went down the stairs instead of up, maybe because of how hungry she was for forgetting dinner. Her friends hadn't gone to get her, she thought, because many times, if she was very busy, she just grabbed a bite and went back to the library. When she saw the heavy oak doors, she realized about her mistake and was about to return to her Common Room, but heard some footsteps and turned around. Coming out of the dungeons, heading who knows where, there was a heftly Slytherin, whom she knew by name because he was friends with Severus. Mulciber; a repulsive and cruel being who despised muggleborns and loved Dark Arts. The boy saw her, and a shiver ran down Lily's spine when she met those deep-set, cold eyes.

"So, hanging around the castle at night, huh, mudblood?" Mulciber spat, approaching to her. The girl didn't move, but she strongly held her wand, which was in her robes' pocket. "Apparently you're not such an angel after all. What are you up to?"

"What the hell is it to you?" she replied gritting her teeth.

"Who do you think you are to talk me like that, stupid muggle?" he answered angrily, getting closer to the redhead and taking out his wand. In a quick movement, the girl did the same thing. "You're pretty insolent, besides being impure. Anyway, I can see why Snape insists on spending time with you." He added, leering at her, which scared Lily a bit more.

"Stay away from me, you bloody idiot." She answered angrily, and raised her wand even more.

"That's not way to talk to a Mulciber, stupid girl. You'll learn to shut your filthy, mudblood mouth, _Confringo!"_ he yelled, waving his wand. But Lily was fast.

"_Protego_!" she exclaimed, surprised at the curse used by the Slytherin: he could have blown her to pieces! "_Expelliarmus_!"

The attempt of disarming him didn't work: he was fast too, and after defending himself he quickly raised his wand again.

"_Expelliarmus_!" but it hadn't been Mulciber the one who had yelled, and his wand flew out of his hand and landed on a dark-haired boy's hand, who was standing behind him. He raised his wand again, but Lily stopped him:

"Don't, Potter! Let him. Let him go." James glared at the Slytherin with hatred and threw his wand at the stairs that led to the dungeons.

"Leave," He said, gritting his teeth "Leave, you bloody scum!" he repeated when Mulciber didn't move. The Slytherin analized the situation and must have considered that he wasn't on equal terms, because with one last scornful look at the Gryffindors, he disappeared through the stairs. James looked at Lily frowning.

"Thank you, Potter," she said, honestly. "I could have done it on my own, but thank you."

James smiled.

"Welcome." He said, turning around and taking his bag back from the floor, puting a strange and slippery fabric into it. After putting it on, he picked up a few packages that were scattered all across the floor. Both of them started to go up quietly, and said nothing for a long while.

"Would you tell me what the hell were you doing alone at this hour?" Potter snapped when they were already in the fourth floor. Lily blushed and seemed to get offended.

"That's none of your business. In that case, what were _you _doing alone at this hour?" James waved one of the packages.

"We forgot about dinner," he said. "A Marauder knows where to find the kitchens."

"Oh." She answered, and her stomach roared. James chuckled and took s chocolate muffin out of the package, handing it to the redhead, who shook her head.

"I don't eat stolen food, thank you." She said, folding her arms. James raised his eyes to the ceiling and sighed.

"It's not stolen, Evans, the House elves adore feeding people. Believe me, I've been half an hour refusing to take a whole chicken they cooked as soon as I showed up." Lily looked at him in the eye, still suspicious, and James waved the muffin in front of her.

"You know you want it…" he murmured.

It was tempting. And it was a chocolate one. Stupid Potter.

"Thanks." She said, after snatching it out of his hand. They kept silent the rest of the wat, while Lily nibbled at the chocolate muffin. When they reached the Fat Lady's portrait, James pronounced the password and let Lily pass, entering behind her. Both of them approached quietly to the rooms' stairs, but after going up one step, the redhead called him:

"Potter…" the boy in question, who had already went up a flight, leaned his head. "Thank you." And she quickly went up to her room.

_**Well, did you like it? Hope you did!**_

**Reviews' answers:**

**Team.:** I'm glad you enjoyed it! And I guess this chapter proves you that Becca thinks the same you do about Eli ;)

**Lovesthis1:** Thank you! I'm so happy you liked it! That's a great compliment, saying this is one of your favourites! I'm glad you approve the way characters like towards each other, and I'm so in love with Remus too!


	17. Chapter 17: Dates

_**I absolutely hate this chapter. Sorry, sorry, sorry it took me so long to update! I've been crazy busy! I wanted to upload something, so I just wrote what I could, and this turned out… I was going to add another part to this, but decided to wait until next chapter, cause I really wanted that to be well written.**_

_**Oh well, I hope you can enjoy this at list a bit. Again, sorry! Review's answers at the end **_

James opened the bedroom door with a wide smile planted o his face, throwing the food packages to the bed. Instantly, Srius and Peter clambered over themselves to get at it.

"God bless House Elves!" the grey-eyed, boy eclaimed, gobbling down a chocolate muffin. The chubby boy had his mouth so full of food he could only nod.

James left his rucksack aside and flung himself into Sirius' bed, staring at the roof with an odd spellbound expression. Remus looked at him half-closing his eyes and asked:

"What's that smirk about?" The dark-haired boy messed up his untidy hair and sat up, still smiling. Sirius, who was calmer now he had some food in his stomach, looked at him suspiciously.

"You ran into Evans at the Common Room," He ventured, pointing at him with an accusing finger. "And for bothering her, it took you a few more minutes to bring me my food." The lycanthrope laughed, getting closer to the bed to eat something too.

"No, smartarse, that's not what happened," James answered rolling his eyes. "But it does have something to do with Evans," His expression changed a bit when he remembered what had happened. "I ran into her when I was leaving the kitchens…"

"Evans out of bed at these hours?" the grey-eyed boy interrupted, raising his eyebrows. "Well, well, who would have said so about the perfect student?" Remus threw him a reproachful look.

"Was she alone?" he asked slightly concerned.

"She was with Mulciber" Peter choked with his food and Sirius exclaimed:

"WHAT?"

"She wasn't _with_ him! While I was leaving, I heard some voices arguing. I heard him calling her Mudblood," James explained, unconsciously clenching his fists while thinking about it; while thinking that that Slythering had tried to hurt his redhead. "And then he attacked her… Lily defended herself, but I disarmed Mulciber from behind." The honey-eyed boy frowned, worried.

"Damn Death Eaters wannabes." Sirius murmured, crumpling one of the empty packages.

"So why were you smiling, then?" Peter asked, puzzled. The dark-haired boy seemed to remember he was happy, and he smiled foolishly again.

"Because she thanked me. Twice," Sirius burst out laughing, and the lycanthrope had a hard time trying not to do the same thing. "And she ate a muffin I gave her."

"Wow, James, looks like she wants to marry you!" exclaimed the dark-haired boy, but the boy in question ignored him. In one day, the redhead had laughed at something he had said, she had accepted something he had given her, and she had thanked him for something he'd done for her. It _had_ to be some kind of record.

...

The following morning, Lily woke up in a bad mood, and it didn't take her long to remember why: Mulciber, the lack of dinner, and well, Potter's existence and the fact that she'd had to be nice with him. Though probably what bothered her the most was the fact that he had done something nice for her. It wouldn't be good for Lily if Potter wasn't the arrogant brat she knew he was.

"Lily! How long did you stay at the library?" asked Sam when she came out of the bathroom and saw her awake. When she heard her, Bree shifted on her bed and opened her eyes

"Lils! I was worried! But I was so tired I fell asleep. You shouldn't study so late, it's not healthy." She said, still sleepy.

"I didn't realize what time it was," the redhead snwered frowning. "And then I had this little problem…" The girl related her friend what had occurred last night. Mary, who had just woken up, couldn't help shuddering when she thought about Mulciber, and Sam was outraged: she wanted to go look for that 'filthy, brainless Slytherin' and show him why he shouldn't attack her friends. Brianna, on the other hand, sighed, thankful that Potter had been there.

The three friends went down the stairs to have breakfast, leaving the sleepy Mary on the room, and chatting about what would they do during the week. The Great Hall was rather empty, as many students had left to their homes for the Easter Holidays, and some other had preferred to sleep as much as they could.

When they sat down, Eli and Becca (who were already at the Ravenclaw table), stood up and sat next to their friends. The first thing the boy did was to ask Lily abot the dark rings under her eyes, and the redhead was obliged to tell the story about Mulciber and her late arrival to the Common Room once again. With perfect timing, the Marauders walked into the Great Hall at that precise moment, and Sirius couldn't help flaunting his haughty personality.

"I see you're relating the deeds of my good friend James." He told Lily, sitting next to Becca and putting his arma round her shoulders. Brianna, sitting in front of him, look at him reproachfully, but slightly amused, while the blonde brushed off his arm with an irritated expression on her face and Sam said:

"Shut it, Black."

"Someone got out of bed on the wrong side today," he mocked her, looking at her out of the corner of the eye and waving his toast as he spoke. "But go on, I love to hear you praising a Marauder." The rest of the boys sat around them, and it was evident that James wasn't sure about playing along with Sirius this time. After all, he didn't want Lily to believe he had just helped her to brag about it later. However, the redhead didn't seem to get angry at his friend; she just ignored him.

"Instead of wasting your energies pestering them, why don't you go blow something up near Mulciber and his lot?" Eli asked absent mindedly, glancing at his watch. Sirius seemed to consider it for a second and nodded.

"I probably will; but food's always first," he said, and then frowned. "Oh; and I am supposed to meet this third year Ravenclaw girl… but after that I'll go find Mulciber and take care of him. Hopefully Snape'll be nearby too." Lily gave him a withering look but said nothing, and the dark-haired, grey-eyed boy stuffed his mouth with a roll.

"Wgut wuz shzee caglled?" He asked after a few seconds, looking at Remus and spraying the poor Bree with food. Rebecca pulled a disgusted grimace and moved away from him. The lycanthrope sighed.

"Whom?" asked the three marauders in unison.

"And you understand him?" Eli inquired laughing, while Sirius answered:

"Thu gurl," the boy swallowed. "The girl, the Claw"

"Am I supposed to know what your date's name is?" Remus asked, struggling between laughter and exasperation.

"Desiree?" ventured the dark-haired boy in glasses, shrugging without paying much attention.

"No, I'm taking her to Hogsmeade on Friday. Besides, she's a Hufflepuff. I think."

"Her name is Bailey, you insensitive piece of shit!" Moon exploded, angrily leaving the Daily Prophet on the table "And she's been going on and on about you and your bloody date for a week now, practically making sure EVERYONE at the Common Room heard her, so you better remember her God damn name, because if you don't, she'll weep about it for a _month_, and I don't think I'll be able to stand it."

"Whoa, blondie, easy!" Sirius said lightly startled, raising his hands. "Bailey, noted, I'll remember. Are you jealous or something? I can make room some day during the week for you, if you want." He added seductively. Rebecca approached to him with her eyelids half-closed and an intense look in her exotic eyes, and the dark-haired boy was so surprised he didn't know how to react. Seconds later she moved away, shaking her blonde hair and taking her rucksack as she stood up.

"You couldn't take me," she said "And I would never date you, Siri-poo. You've dated half of Hogwarts, and I don't care how hot you are; you're a pig. Besides, you're not my type." And she went away with her characteristic hip swinging: she was meeting someone too.

That comment left a huge smile on Sam's face for the rest of the day.

"Your friend's insane" Sirius grumbled looking at Brianna, who smiled a bit grimly, though no one seemed to notice. Black stared more carefuly at her and laughed: the girl's Brown curls were a mess, comically bouncing on the top of her head every time she moved. "You've had a fight with the comb, huh, Bree?" The girl tried to flatten her hair, but she easily desisted. "Almost as messy as James'" Black added and looked at his friend, who had been oddly quiet furing the breakfast, just like Evans.

"Well, I'm leaving," Eli announced, standing up from his seat. Sam frowned and looked at him. "I'm going home; my parents asked Dumbledore to let me go today; they weren't home yet yesterday. I'll see you in a few days, don't miss me." He added, winking one of his clear eyes and bowing his head before leaving the Hall.

"I guess it'll just be the three of us for Hogsmeade this Friday…" Samantha sighed looking at Eli going through the door. "Becca has probably already arranged to meet someone."

"I'm sorry to tell you you'll just be two," Potter added, looking at the redhead. "Evans has a date with me on Friday" The girl threw a bored look at him, stood up and without a single word, majestically went away, her mane of red hair fluttering on her back.

"Nice try." Remus muttered with a smile on his lips.

"You should stop trying; you'd make all of us a favor." Sam said dryly staring at the dark-haired boy, and then stood up and followed Lily. Bree looked at her friend go away and then fixed her eyes on Potter.

"You won't win Lils' heart behaving like that. I'm sure you know it, but she's not like the rest of them." She said seriously, warmly smiling after that, and following her friends, turning around to wave at them before reaching the girls. The marauders stared at her as she walked away, until Peter broke the silence saying:

"She nice. I like her." Sirius smiled and nodded once.

"She is," James said. "They're all…different."

"Girls who are worth it." The lycanthrope clarified, raising his eyebrows.

...

The redhead comfortably curled up on the armchair at the empty Common Room with a book on her knees. Bree and Sam were out flying to make temost of the day, and Lily had declined the invitation, of course. She hadn't gotten onto a broom since first year and he never would if she could help it. Besides, it was freezing outside! The sofá in front of the fire was much cozier.

After halda n hour, Lily heard the Fat Lady's Portrait squeek and then a singsong laughter, and she looked up from the book when she recognized the second voice.

"On Friday, then?" Potter said seductively, and the girl perfectly imagined the expression on his hazel eyes, which had probably made whoever was making him company breathless for a few seconds.

"Perfect." The little voice whispered, and the redhead assumed Potter was kissing her, as neither one of them said nothing else. After a few minutes, Lily emitted a fake cough, and she immediately heard quite a disgusting noise; as if someone was using a plunger.

"Hello?" the boy said, sounding a bit irritated. The redhead considered pretending she wasn't there, but they would find out eventually, so she sat up on the armchair and stuck her head out with a false, wide smile on her face. When he saw her, Potter automatically ran his hand through his messy hair. The girl standing next to him placed her hand on her mouth and giggled. She was a third year, and really gorgeous: she had a black, wavy, neck-length hair and an adorable, turned-up nose, and her lips were pink and plentiful.

"Oops. Sory, Evans," she said looking at Lily, and then resting her gaze on James again. "See you on Friday" she added, standing on her toe tips and planting a kiss on his mouth, and then ran up the stairs.

Potter and Lily looked at each other's eyes for a few seconds a bit uncomfortable, and it was James the one to break eye contact, approaching to the redhead and sitting next to her.

"Whassup, Evans?" he said cheekily, in the exact same tone he had used to address Corner, which irritated the girl, who looked daggers at him. "What? I thought we were on good terms now that you've accepted my peace muffin and so." If Lily wouldn't have been upset (for reasons she couldn't even understand), she would have probably smiled, but she held back.

"Just try not to avoid snogging your conquests at the Common Room. It's pretty annoying for the rest of us." She spat, sticking his book on her haversack a little bit too harshly and standing up from the sofa. James stared at her as she walked towards her room, slightly puzzled.

When she was half-way there, the redhead turned around and called him.

"Oh, and, Potter," she said "I'm not a lady in distress, and you're clearly not a knight in shining armour. I can take care of myself and you know it. I appreciate that you tried to help me with Mulciber, but I think that's not something to boast about. But as you apparently can't help it, I'd prefer you not to…_save _me again." And she went up the stairs before James could reply. The boy frowned and kicked the armchair.

"Fuck."

...

The week was pretty entertaining for the few students who had stayed at Hogwarts, as they had been able to enjoy the castle without having to worry about the clases. Bree, Sam and Lily had already planned what would they do at Hogsmeade that Friday, as Becca, as they had anticipated, had a date. But what they hadn't foreseen was that she wouldn't be the only one busy that weekend …

"What a beautiful day" Brianna exclaimed, stretching her legs at the lake's shore and tilted her head back with her eyes closed. "Let's hope tomorrow's still like this and not too cold again."

Next to her, Sam and Lily did their homeworks while Becca, who had been taking a nap until then, stretched herself.

That day, unusually warm for the season, everybody was outside enjoying the sun.

"I'm seriously considering dumping Oliver," the blonde announce, placing her head on her hand and yawning. "I'll wait a week or two; I've already told him I'm going to Hogsmeade with him."

"Why?" Lily asked absent mindedly, putting the full stop on her Tansfiguration Essay and looking up.

"He's dull," she answered. "He bored me"

"If you dump them each time you star to get bored…" the redhead started to say, but she interrumpted herself, staring at something. Her friends turned around to see what was Lily looking at: A skinny, greasy-haired boy walking side by side with a burly, threatening figure: Mulciber.

Any one of them said nothing for a momento, and it was Becca who ended up opening her mouth.

"Lils…" she said, hesitant. "You always knew he hanged out with that lot. How can you be surprised? It's fine if you say he's not like the rest of them, but…"

"Yeah, but Mulciber? He's cruel. And repulsive." The redhead answered, apparently hurt. "I'll talk to him later." Bree, Sam and Becca looked at each other, worried about her friends, but as they always did when they talked about it, they shut everything they had to s ay.

At that moment, a Sixth-year Hufflepuff Lily had talked to a few times was passing by. He was tall and had broad back, he had a couple of dark eyes to die for and a wavy and sexy Brown hair.

"Hey," he said, standing a few feet away from the group of girls with his hands on his pockets. Lily smiled warmly at him.

"Aidan! How're you doing?· she said. The boy gave her a one-sided smile and got a bit closer.

"Err, Lily… may I "talk to you for a second?" The girl seemed surprised and nodded.

"Sure. Would you wait here for me here, girls?" she asked, standing up and brushing her clothes. Her friends nodded, smiling and looking at them wittier eyebrows raides.

They walked away from the lake a bit, stopping neara groupo of boys who rested under a tree, but they didn't pay attention to them.

"So…" Aidan startd, his hands still on his pockets, moving to and fro – How have you been?"

"Really well," the redhead answered, tilting her head to one side and shrugging her shoulders. It was a bit weird that the boy, who was always so easy-going, acted so shyly. "How about you?"

"Fine, too," the boy sighed and smiled a bit looking up. Then he looked at Lily in the eye and continued: "Err…well, Lils, I just wanted to ask you to come to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow." Th redhead stared at hi puzzled. "You don't have to come if you don't want to! It's fine, never mind, I just… Never mind." The Hufflepuff added, smiling. Lily shook her head and smiled too.

"No, of course I'd love to go with you!" she said, and the boy seemed surprised this time. "I just wasn't expecting it." Aidan sighed, relieved, smiling once again.

"Great," he said. "So, you weren' supposed to meet no one else?"

"No; besides, no one had invited me." She clarified. The boy raised his eyebrows.

"No?"

"Nope.".

"That's odd…" the boy commented. "Well, I guess I should thank I've been so lucky, then."

Lily laughed, lookind down and tucking a red lock of hair behinf her ear.

"See you on Friday" he said, kissing he ron the cheek and walking away with a smile.

When she sat with her friends again, she had to stand their giggles and teasing.

"What are you wearing?" Bree asked once she had finished complaining about losing 'another warrior'; they would be just Sam and her tomorrow.

"I'll think about it later…" the redhead said, putting her stuff into her bag. "I'll go to… see you later"

And she left, walking at a quick pace towards the castle. Becca sighed.

"She's gonna talk to Snape." She said, and Bree nodded.

...

"Well yeah, Jamie, I think you've screwed up." Sirius was saying, leaning against the tree with his eyes closed. James, who was in a terrible mood, had repeated once again what had happened between him and Lily at the beginning of the week. Remus, fed up with the story already, ignored him, while Peter and Sirius repeated the same things they had told him the first time.

The dark-haired boy in glasses sighed, messing up his hair and leaning against the tree.

"I 've told you_ hundreds _of times, James. Stop behaving like an arse and only then you'll get the remote possibility of calling her attention." The lycanthope exploded.

"Even if it's hard for me to admit it, he's right." Sirius added, sitting up a bit. James grumbled and looked at the group of girls lying by the lake, and admired the long, red mane that could be seen from the distance. At that moment, one boy approached to them and Potter frowned. That wasn't Rivers, who was that bloke talking to his redhead? And why were they moving away from the group?

"Who's that moron?" he asked out loud when it was clear that theboy wanted to talk to Lily on their own.

Without realizing they were there, they stood nearby to chat.

"Davis, he's in fifth or sixth year. Hufflepuff." Remus answered, carefully staring at his friend.

"Sixth." Peter clarified, sitting up to listen.

"…_I just wanted to ask you to come to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow."_

Potter stayed still, waiting for an answer, and Sirius would have sworn that his left eye had some kind of nervous tick.

"…_of course I'd love to go with you!" _

James clenched his fist and slammed it against the tree, grunting in pain after doing so. _"Of course I'd love to go with you!" _ She hadn't said no, nor she had thrown him an scornful look, moving her long, red hair as she turned her back on him to continue with her way.

"James…" the grey-eyed boy started, but his friend stopped him.

"I hate him." He said dryli. The lycanthrope sighed and said:

"I know this is probably not what you wanna hear, but remember you have a date on Friday too. Even if you've asked her out over and over again, you've dated other girls too. I'm not criticizing you; I'm just sayin you can't have it all, James." His friend frowned but didn't get mad; he just rubbed his face with his hands (accidentally twisting his glasses.) and sighed.

**Reviews answers:**

**Team-k-putt:** I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks again for commenting! Ahh, Sirius and Bree… you'll se what happens :P I'm glad you're enjoying poor Lily's mental struggle!

**Arianna:** I'm so glad you liked it! And I'm evenhappier that you liked my OC's! I didn't add the usual girls as Lily's friends because it wasn't an actual canon fact… So I chose to invent my own girls instead of using the usual, but I wasn't sure people would like it. Thank you so much for commenting!


	18. Chapter 18: Breaking bonds

_**First of all, I owe you a SUPER SUPER SUPER APOLOGY! I know it's frustrating to be reading a fanfic and don't have a new chapter to read for months, but I didn't want to upload a messy thing and college really didn't let me breathe! I hope I didn't lose you as readers, and I truly apologize for the delay. In the future, I want you to know that I'll never abandon the story until it's finished, but I can't leave aside my real life commitments...**_

_**I'm really sorry, because besides leaving dArt for months this is a pretty crappy chapter, but I wanted to give you guys something to read. Sorry once again, and I really hope I didn't lose you :(**_

_**Still, I have to tell you that I have plenty of ideas for future chapters now! And now that I'm on my winter holidays I'll write as much as I can!**_

After saying goodbye to her friends, the redhead headed resolutely towards the castle, frowning without even noticing. The breeze messed up her fiery mane and Lily, without stopping, tried to put it back on its place in vain, sighing frustrated. Her bag, loaded with books, bounced slightly on her back at every step, and when she felt the weight she placed both strips on her shoulders, standing on the stone steps for a while. Then she nimbly went up them and opened the huge oak door.

Once inside, the redhead hesitated for a second, as if she had forgotten where was she heading to, but then she retook her way, determined, towards the dungeons. Darkness reigned down there, only broken by some gloomy lights that made the girl shudder. The dungeons had never been as terrible to her as they were for many other students; not even on her first year, 'cause to her, they were related to Potions, a subject she had always found entertaining and extremely useful. But going deep into them alone was something completely different, especially on holidays, the only occasion in which the comfortable crackling of a potion being bred on the fire couldn't be heard. She left the Potions classroom behind and kept going down; the spiced aroma that always flooded the place wasn't in the air anymore, being replaced by an unpleasant smell of moss and damp. The sound of her steps on the cold stone was the only thing that could be heard, and the dancing lights emitted by the candles were now even ghostlier. Or maybe it was just her imagination.

When she turned around a narrow nook, she suddenly stopped in order to avoid bumping into the figure that had just appeared in front of her. Her heart stopped for a second, but when she scrutinized the person facing her, she could recognize a couple of black eyes that shone like beetles in the dark.

Before she could open her mouth to say anything, the boy strongly grabbed her wrist and walking past her, forced her to change her course.

"Are you mental, Lily?" Snape hissed sharply, dragging his friendo ut of the dungeons. She didn't offer resistance; after all, he was the reason she had gone there, but she was still surprised by the anxiety printed on the boy's words. When they reached the Entrance Hall, Severus turned around and looked at the redhead in the eye, and as he did so, his hard expression relaxed a little. "Never, you hear me?, never go to the dungeons alone again, Lily" he said roughly, and only when he pronounced the girl's name his voiced acquired a softer tone.

She frowned, but nodded.

"Promise me." He demanded.

"I promise, Sev," she said softly, giving him a half-smile. "Now, could you…?" she asked glancing at her left wrist, still seized by the Slytherin's sallow ahand. He looked in the same direction and stared for a few seconds, as if it wasn't him the one holding her, but then he quickly let her go, looking away as he murmured:

"I'm sorry."

"It's Ok," Lily answered, flexing her fingers to recover its mobility "Why you don't want me to go down there again?" she asked.

"Cause that's where Slytherin's Common Roo mis." He answered drily, starting to walk towards the grounds. The redhead rolled her eyes and followed him, saying:

"I know that, Sev. I wasn't going to enter your Common Room, don't worry about it."

"It's dangerous, Lily."

"Why?" She asked with obstinacy. Severus turned around violently, and when she looked at her he was about to smile: seeing her with that stubborn and huffy expression on her face, he felt he was staring at a Lily who was five years younger. But concern didn't let him focus on that detail.

"Because your parents are _muggle_, Lily" he answered, and the expression that appeared for a second on his friend's face hurt him. "And even though I don't care, they do. Especially now. These aren't times for a _muggleborn _to wander around the dungeons."

Lily said nothing and nodded. Her friend's sudden and harsh honesty had surprised her, but she understood it. Probably more than a half of the older students were sympathetic to that nutcase, Lord Voldemort. At that moment, an idea that she hadn't thought of until then popped up in her mind and froze her blood. Almost instantly, she fixed her eyes on Severus' left arm, covered by the black robes, but she quickly rejected the idea, shaking her head. It was impossible. Besides, they were just fourteen years old. It was unthinkable. But… what about the rest of them? What about the older students? Maybe… maybe they were something more than mere sympathizers.

Thinking about all that prooved her that the conversation she was planning on having with her friend was much more important and urgent than she thought. She looked up and met Snape's dark eyes, which probably were fixed on her face since they left the castle. She sighed and looked at the lake; they had reached its shore without realizing about it. The wind messed up her bright mane a little, and she absent-mindedly put it back on its place, fixing her green eyes on the boy again, who tucked a rebellious red lock behind Lily's ear.

"Sev," she started, doubtfull. Snape gave a hint of a crooked smile that made Lily smile too, but it was brief. "I can see you've been hanging out with Mulciber" she let out, sitting on the grass while saying so. The boy didn't say a word and flopped on the ground next to her, scrutinizing his pale face, on which the freckles weren't as visible as always. "I don't like him."

"He's my…friend." He said, breaking eye contact for the first time and focusing on some distant point of the horizon.

"He's cruel. And twisted," She replied "And he almost sends me to the Hospital Wing a few nights ago."

"I know. I'm sorry." He was truly sorry, and his contorted face made one think that he was physically in pain because of the redhead's words. She took his hand and he clung to it as if he was a castaway about to drown.

"Sev, I know you're not like him," Lily said softly "But I don't like you to hang out with them. Avery is your 'friend' as well, isn't he? I don't like this Sev, and I worry about you."

"I, I just… Lily, I can't afford to face them." He seemed about to burst into tears, and the girl felt guilty.

"I know, I'm not asking you to. I don't want you to face them, but… It hurts me, seeing you with them." The boy nodded, still clutched to her hand. "I'm not leaving you, Sev. You're my best friend." She whispered, puting her head on Snape's shoulder, who relaxed completely, letting the familiar cherry scent flood him.

…

After James' 'tantrum', the Marauders had left the grounds, deciding to make the most of their spare time by working on Animagic. The chosen place was the Room of Requirement, which would provide them with the neccesary tools and quiet atmosphere to focus on the transfiguration. After hours and hours of practice, both Sirius and James had felt something strange inside of them; some kind of force coming out of their minds, something really hard to explain. Peter didn't understand what they were talking about, but all of them were exhausted. Even Remus, who had just watched them for hours, had been so tense that when he relaxed he felt as if a herd of hippogriffs had walked over him.

Once they considered they had practiced enough, the four of them headed to the Common Room, dragging their feet and barely speaking despite both dark-haired boys were elated. When he past by a window, Sirius stopped, staring at the grounds. When he noticed the boy wasn't next to him anymore, James turned around and approached to his friend.

"Sirius?" Remus called, standing a few steps ahead, next to Peter.

"I gotta do a thing," the boy said, his grey eyes fixed to the steamed up glass "See you later." While saying this, he looked at James, who nodded and held out his rucksack to him.

The boy took it and without another word, turned around and left. The lycanthrope looked questioningly at James, who was looking through the window.

"Slytherin's Quidditch try-outs," he said as an explanation, "It's odd they chose Easter holidays to do them, I guess not many snakes went home this time. Who knows, maybe most of their parents are busy doing some job for Voldemort." Peter startled a bit when he heard the name; apparently, at least in his family, they were already used to avoid naming him.

Remus tried to meet James' eyes: the boy had went on talking about Slytherin and Dead Eaters, trying to leave Sirius' topic aside. The dark-haired boy sighed and stared at the grounds again.

"Let's go." He said, and both the lycanthrope and Peter understood that James wanted Sirius to tell them what had all that been about.

…

Sirius reached the Quidditch pitch almost without realizing, and sat on the bleachers. Before leaving the castle, he had taken out of James' rucksack the cloak of invisibility, hiding under it to avoid trouble with the Slytherins. Sitting comfortably, he looked down and scrutinized the crow half-closing his eyes. Having a quick look at the whole group, he easily distinguished him; he would recognize that silhouette from a distance of miles. He kept his eyes on him while the other boys tried out. He could see he was nervous, but probably nobody else would notice. No o ne knew him like him.

When there were just a few students who hadn't flew, they Heard the team's captain announce that it was time for the last try-out; the seeker's. The boy took a step forward and Sirius gave a hint of a half smile: he knew he would try-out for the seeker's position. He was the last one in the row, and the dark-haired boy observed him as the rest of the boys flew accross the field in shifts, searching for the Snitch that the captain let go time and time again. The skinny kid watched them with seriousness and composure. When it was his turn, he cgot on the broom with confidence and took flight. Sirius watched him cross the air in search of the golden little ball and couldn't help feeling proud. He did it better than anyone, and when she reached the ground there was no doubt he had been chosen.

Sirius left the bleachers as the players headed to the changing room and the dissapointed pupils headed to the castle dragging their feet. The boy lay on a wall near the exit and waited. After half an hour, he heard some voices and straightened up while watching the whole team walk near him. Last on the row, wrapped up into a new and shiny green and silver robe, was his brother.

When he was walking right past him, Sirius whispered:

"Reg." The boy seemed to be taken aback, and stopped walking. Goodwin, a big bloke who had been chosen as a beater called him.

"Just go without me, I've forgotten something." He answered. The apish Slytherin shrugged his shoulders and kept walking. Regulus turned around trying to conceal his anxiety and ran his eyes through an invisible Sirius a couple of time without realizing about it.

"Sirius?" he whispered, and only then he took of his invisibility cloak trying not to let the boy see it.

The brothers looked at each other in the eye for a while, without saying a word. Regulus Black looked a lot like Sirius. He was shorter than him, but he was just twelve, and it was hard to tell if he was going to grow much more or not, and he was skinny and agile (he had the perfect seekers' build). He had inherited the enviable silky and black hair too, but he wore it short; and his eyes were identical to his brother's. But the thing that showed they were irrefutably related was their haughty expression and the aristocratic features they shared.

Sirius smiled.

"You flew amazingly, little, repugnant snake." He said and Regulus beamed, as any kid eager for his big brother's approval; as if they didn't have to hate each other for being in enemy Houses… as if Regulus didn't have to pretend that Sirius, the shame of the family, wasn't his brother.

"Thanks." He said, getting serious and held his head up solemnly. Sirius laughed and patted his shoulder.

"You made the rest of them bite the dust, congratulations. Now go celebrate, you deserve it." Regulus nodded and with a brief smile, turned around and rushed off towards the castle.

Sirius followed him with the eyes, and the proud sparkle in his grey eyes darkened when he thought that, gradually, his brother would end up being like their parents and the rest of the Slytherins. When they were young they had always been inseparables; the little shrimp looked up to him and followed him all around. But while he had never found it easy to follow their mother's rules and was a frequent victim of her punishments, Reg did exactly everything Walbutga told him to. And when Sirius started to rebel against their parents' stupid ideas, Reg, still too young, thought that it was just another one of Sirius' tantrums and, firm to the 'rules', would have never dared to consider that what they were teaching him was _wrong_. And it was then when they started to grow apart a bit, but the fundamental breaking off was the year Sirius arrived at Hogwarts and the Sorting Hat, for his pride and his parents eternal dishonor, placed him in Gryffindor. They wrote to each other often, but Sirius could see in the tone of his letters that Reg hadn't been able to escape the Black family's brainwashing. He could feel his little brother's confusion in his first letters, he could imagine him wondering how his beloved brother had ended up in the 'worst' House of them all. And as the years passed, both in his letters and the way he treated him, he could feel the kid's reproach as an echo, a shadow of his mother's. There was nothing he could do; gradually, as Regulus grew up, he would soak up those revolting ideas about blood-cleaning, and there would be no way back. That would be the moment in which the admiration and seek of approval would be replaced by disdain. The moment in which, unavoidably, they wouldn't be brothers anymore.

The dark-haired boy sighed and started walking towards the castle, and a single tear crossed his face without him noticing. Neither Sirius nor Regulus ever knew that the rebellious and carefree Black boy had cried for his brother.


	19. Chapter 19: Hogsmeade

_Hello agaaain! Well, I know you don't really want t oread this, but before the chapter I wanted to tell you that it took me a while to update cause I've been finishing this kind of sketch on the chapters that I'll need to finish the story. I tried to organize it so that they wouldn't be too many, because otherwise the story will be too long, so I decided to go with around 5 or 6 chapters per school year, plus some 'extras'… I've already planned out most of them, I just have to write them… So, including this one, they would be around **25 more chapters, more or less. **I'll have to make an effort not to make the story too long, which usually happens to me, because if I do, we would end up having a 100-chapter-book, but maybe some of the chapters will have to be longer, so that I don't have to rush the ending. So, from now on, I will promise you **at least one chapter per week **(I'm not counting the weeks when I'll be buried in finals, but those are still a few months away), but I'll ask you to be a little patient for those longer chapters (the thing is that while I write in Spanish, I translate to English so that I can upload both stories at the same time). So, I promise I will carry out my part of the deal of one chapter per week (Which was about time, I know I've been failing as an author lately) and you'll have to be a little patient (as if you hadn't been already) if it takes longer some time._

_Now, on to a different topic, I wanted to tell you there's this great artista at dArt (her profile: ) who drew me this awesome and precise drawings of my dearest Eli,Becca, Sam and Bree, when they're around 16, 17. Here's the link in case you want to check them out, cause they're really accurate:  art/Eli-and-Sam-294347251 y  art/Becca-and-Bree-294391486 . And if you want, check the rest of her gallery, she rocks!_

_Sorry for the long speech, thanks for keeping Reading, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!_

…

Lily opened her eyes, startled, but she couldn't remember dreaming anything, so she supposed that it had been an external noise what had woken her. The soft sound of the shower corroborated her supposition; probably one of the girls had woken up, and hadn't paid much attention to the fact that her friends were still sleeping, opening and closing drawers, throwing the trunk aside and rummaging through everything until she found the right clothes to go to Hogsmeade.

Curiously, she felt something strange in the pit of her stomach when she thought about Hogsmeade, and Aidan. She was slightly surprised; even though she had always liked the boy and even though he was _really _hot, Lily had never thought of him as something else than a friend. At least until now. Evidently, he had, and now that she knew it, the redhead couldn't help feeling a bit nervous faced with the prospect of a date. She had never went out with anyone, and it was hard to believe that many boys thought she was attractive, even though her friends repeated it over and over again. After all, even if she had her curves now, she had always been the pale and skinny swot who was nice to everybody…Well, almost everybody; Potter and Black didn't count. And neither did the people that made her mad, at the end of the day, her explosive temper wasn't known by everyone, so it didn't influence what they thought of her. Summing up, the only thing pretty about herself was her long mane of red hair. So, why had Aidan asked her out? Well, they got along. And maybe she was more appealing than she thought. At least that was what Bree, Sam, Becca and Eli said. The latter had even confessed that he had overheard his roommates talking about his friend.

The sound of the shower couldn't be heard anymore, but she hadn't hear the bathroom door opening. It probably was Mary; neither Brianna nor Sam had a date, and there was no way they would wake up early for no reason. She sure had that under wraps! She hadn't said a thing about a date. Maybe that was why she was up so early; she didn't want tos ay anything in case it didn't work out. Lily thought it was better to pretend she was still asleep; she didn't want to make the blonde feel uncomfortable, so she didn't draw the curtains back and remained laid back, her green eyes fixed on the ceiling, trying to mitigate that tickly feeling, so odd and new for her.

After some minutes, the bathroom door opened, flooding the room with a light scent of shampoo, and after hearind a couple of nervous feet walking around the room, the bedroom door was carefully closed. Almost immediately after that, she could hear the sound of a curtain and Lily assumed that her friends had done exactly the same thing as her. When she was about to open her mouth to ask who was already up, the heavy, dark red canopy was drawn aside, letting in the light coming from the window and illuminating her freckled face.

"Uuuuuup," Sam crooned in an unusual good mood while she jumped to Brianna's bed and started tickling her. Lily laughed and sat up, taking a rubber band from her night table and sloppily tying her hair to take it away from her face.

"Ugh, I think I like you better when you're in a bad mood," complained Brianna, pushing her aside. "I'm up, ok?" Sam smiled at her with fake innocence and nodded.

"Come on, Lily, you gotta take a shower" she said, approaching to a puzzled redhead and pulling her arm to force her go into the bathroom. Bree seemed to realize about something and jumped out of the bed, excited.

"Oh, you're going out with Aidan today!" she screeched in a high-pitched voice, jumping and clapping foolishly. Lily stared at her raising her eyebrows.

"Will you torture me?" She asked

"We have explicit instructions from Rebecca" Sam answered with circumspection. The redhead burst out laughing and locked herself in the bathroom, shaking her head.

While she was having a shower, the nervousness came back, and she felt like those silly girls who chased the Marauders in between sighs. She had to admit she was a bit relieved that her friends would be helping her out with the clothes. When she went out of the bathroom with her hair in a turban and dressed only in her underwear, Bree was waiting for her, brush in hand, while Sam finished putting some of her skirts on her bed. The redhead had to do practically nothing: her friends brushed and dried her hair and dressed her up, but Lily flatly refused to wear make-up.

When they considered she was ready, they let her go down, making her promise she would tell them every detail at the end of the day.

Lily went down the stairs alone, cursing her stomach when that stupid feeling came back. It wasn't a big deal! It was absolutely ridiculous, getting nervous about a date with Aidan. She was so focused on the topic that she didn't even hear the approving whistle dedicated to her when she arrived at the Common Room. Anyway, even if she would have heard it, she woudn't have taken the hint; as we all know, our redhead didn't see herself clearly, and she certainly didn't understand how she looked in the boys' eyes.

"Nice legs, redhead!" Black let out when the whistle didn't make effect. Lily looked up lightly puzzled, but it didn't take her long to scowl; it was just the automatic reaction of her face when she met one of those two 'marauder' brats. However, the scowl didn't last long, as she was really surprised by the expression of the four boys who reste don the sofá. Well, not Peter's, who stared at her with the same expression he had whenever he was close to his friends, but as for the rest of them…Remus seemed astonished, with his eyebrows slightly raised, while Black seemed pleasantly surprised, looking her up and down without even trying to conceal it. And Potter had his eyes wide open, fixed on her, and his mouth comically half-opened.

"What?" she spat rudely. Somehow, James' behaviour unsettled her a little. _Potter's_. _Potter's_ behavior, not James'.

"You look really pretty, Lily" said Remus with a smile, which she returned.

And she did look pretty. After some deliberation, and because it was such a splendid day, they had made her wear a lovely, mid-thigh, flowery dress. It was dark blue and it had tiny white, peach and sea green flowers. It was tight under her bust and it had an adorable heart-shaped cleavage and delicate straps. She had her long hear loose and a couple of brown sandals that were tied to her fragile, white ankles.

"Thanks" She just said, with an adorable shyness she had never showed in front of the Marauders. Before they could tell her anything else, she left the Common Room at a quick pace, waving at Remus as she passed by.

"Shut your mouth, you'll catch a fly, James." Said Sirius, who didn't get the blow he was expecting cause his friend was still staring spellbound at the portrait hole where the redhead had just been. The only sign that he had heard anything was that he closed his mouth. "Anyway, you sure pick them right, Jamie, dear. Merlin, Evans has legs!" This time he did get the blow.

"Those legs are mine! Don't look at them!" James yelled, ignoring his friends' laughter.

At that momento, Brianna and Samantha were goind down the stairs, but if they had overheard the conversation, they didn't mention anything at all about it. They were dressed more casually; after all they didn't have dates.

"Hey," greeted Bree with her usual sweetness, without turning a hair about the huffy expression of the dark-haired boy with glasses. "What are you doing here, aren't your dates waiting for you?"

"Desiree and I are supposed to meet later, in twenty minutes," answered Sirius "And James' still waiting for Corner, who was supposed to be here half an hour ago."

"I'll never understand those girls who take _hours _to get ready," Sam commented, surprising even Remus: if she could do it, the girl avoided any kind of contact with the Marauders. "I'll have to ask Becca, who always takes more than a while"

"So, what 'bout you? Areyou making your dates wait?" asked Lupin.

"Nope, it's just the two of us," answered Brianna shaking her head. "Becca is meeting Oliver, and Lils' meeting Aidan, so…" When she mentioned the Hufflepuff, James turned around and sato n the sofá folding his arms, and Bree couldn't help giving a hint of a tiny smile.

"Why don't you come with us?" Asked Lupin pointing at peter. Brianna and Sam looked at each other, and the latter shrugged her shoulders, so her friend said:

"Sure, why not? As long as you promise your admirers won't chase us." That managed to make Pettigrew smile, whose shyness hadn't let him say a word until then.

"That's not faaaaaair," complained Sirius childishly, pulling Brianna's arm and hugging her possessively, making her blush "Brianna is mine, you're gonna steal me my friend!" He accused Lupin, who rolled his eyes, just like Sam.

"Right, 'cause we are _forcing _you to go out with Desiree." The lycanthrope replied. Sirius let Brianna go and crossed his arms, holding his head up.

"Well, but later I'll meet you there. You better be at The Three Broomsticks when I get there," he said, still pretending he had taken offense.

"Does that mean that, when you're done snogginf the blonde, you'll make us stand your company?" Sam asked, but she wasn't even as Sharp as always; she said it mockingly instead.

"Yeah, that's basically what it means," answered Lupin, while everyone laughed. Even James let out a chuckle.

"Alright, we should better keep going, before Sirius does something that makes Sam ge tinto a huff or something." Bree asked, saying goodbye to the two dark-haired boys and leaving the Common Room with the rest of them.

Lily went down the stairs absent-mindedly, thinking about Black's words and Potter's hazel look fixed on her. She quickly shook her head: that didn't mean anything; they were just messing with her, as always. She should stop thinking about the Marauders and focus on getting rid of that bloody tickling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

When she reached the meeting spot, Aidan greeted her with a wide smile full of White teeth. Lily couldn't help but noticing that the boy ran his eyes over her too, and he seemed to like what he was swing, because he raised his eyebrows with pleasure and said:

"You look astounding, Lily" She blushed and smile, whispering a 'Thank you' almost inaudible.

The truth was that the boy didn't fall behind, and the redhead wasn't the only one who noticed. When they got to Hogsmeade, there wasn't a single girl who didn't glare jealously at Lily, who wasn't nervous anymore: it was nice talking to Aidan, almost natural, and it didn't take long until they felt at ease in each other's company. "You can't imagine how nervous I was a while ago," he commented as he gave her a huge chocolate ice-cream. "How stupid, right?" Lily smiled and shook her head, taking the ice-cream.

"I was nervous too" She admitted. Aidan frowned a little and absently licked his vanilla ice-cream before asking:

"Anyway, how come you didn't have a date when I asked you? I was sure you would, or at least I was sure you would say no" Lily frowned a bit too.

"You say it as if I had tons of boys at my feet," she complained, slightly annoyed, "Before you did, no one had asked me. In fact, no one had asked me out ever." Aidan seemed skeptical, but then he said, casually:

"Except for Potter." Lily frowned even more.

"Except for Potter," she said. Aidan raised his eyebrows and Lily mimicked the gesture "Potter doesn't count." She clarified. Aidan seemed relieved, but couldn't help asking:

"And why's that?" Lily sighed and tried not to sound too irritated as she answered:

"'Cause Potter just asks me out to bother me, it's some kind of chronic need he has. Pillock." Aidan pulled a face that the redhead couldn't figure out. The truth is that the boy was more than relieved that Potter was offside; he didn't really like the idea of competing with his for Lily, 'cause he was likely to lose. It was a clear advantage that the redhead didn't know, or didn't believe, what Potter really felt for her. Even when it was patently obvious.

The rest of the day was quite pleasant, and they both had a great time. When it was almost time for lunch, they decided to go to The Three Broomstick: they were starving. Usually, visits to Hogsmeade were in the afternoon, but this time Dumbledore had decided to let them go in the morning, cause it was such a nice day. And it had been a good idea: when the couple entered the pub, the clouds had already started to cover the shiny sun. Lily sighed, resigned to the capricious British climate.

"I hope it doesn't rain a lot," she commented as they sat down. "Or I'll kill Samantha for making me wear this dress." Immediately after saying so, she blushed because she had admitted her friends had helped her out with the clothes. Great, now Aidan would think she was a silly schoolgirl. However, the boy smiled, pleased: it was a good sign that the girl had worried about what to wear.

"Well, I'm flad she did," he said, looking at her in the eye "It looks perfect on you."

Lily went red as a tomatoe, but she smiled, and Aidan dared to slightly lean forward, without taking his eyes from those dazzling green eyes. The tickling appeared again in the redhead's stomach, who wondered if the boy was going to kiss her. He probably was, but she couldn't know it for sure, because in that exact momento someone spilled a tankard of butterbeer on the Hufflepuff's head.

…

Actually, the date hadn't been that bad; Leila was really pretty, nice, and not stupid at all, which was a change considering the last girls James had went out with. And even though her squeaky voice was a bit irritating, it was nice talking with her. The problem was that he had gotten out of bed in the wrong side today, watching _his _readhead leaving the Common Room, stunning, to meet that twat of Davis. No, _that _was the problem: Leila could be pretty and nice, but she wasn't Lily. The girl didn't seem to notice that James god distracted every other minute, comparing her features to the redhead's. Maybe she though his concentrated expression was an intense and passionate look, which was what she liked to believe. Leila had short, dark and wavy hair, while Lily had a long mane of bright, dark red hair. Leila had tender, brown eyes, but they were small and slightly wide-set, while Lily had two huge green searchlights, framed by thick eyelashes. Laila had a turned up nose and a generous mouth, while Lily's nose was straighter, though tiny and adorable, and her strawberry lips didn't look at all like the brunette's.

The boy made an effort to pay attention at the conversation: the brunette was embarked in a detailed description of her holidays at the Caribbean. Fine, at least she hadn't noticed that he had been thinking about anything but what she was telling him. However, he couldn't stop thinking about Lily, and his date seemed to realize that the dark-haired boy wasn't interested at all in what she was telling him, because she frowned a bit and stopped talking. James smiled cheekily and leaned on the table to kiss her on the lips. The frown disappeared in a second, and the girl returned the kiss intensely. They snogged for a while, until they thought it would be convenient to order something to eat. The girl seemed preety cheerful, and she started talking again about who knows what while they waited for the food. Yeah, she was nice, but she likes talking _way _too much, thought James. When Madame Rosmerta (the curvaceous waitress) was leaving two butterbeers on the table, a familiar voice startled the boy: _I hope it doesn't rain too much, or I'll kill Samantha for making me wear this dress._ It was Lily. And If James remembered it correctly, she was wearing a spring dress that wouldn't be warm enough if it rained. Maybe he should get up and offer her his jacket, but probably Leila wouldn't like that very much… _Well, I'm glad she did. __It looks perfect on you._

That son of a bitch of Davis was flirting with _his _redhead.

Without even reflecting on it, James turned around and emptied his butterbeer tankard on the boy's head, who jumped from his seat and turned around, without understanding what had happened, but scowling when he saw the empty tankard on Potter's hands. Lily (who luckily hadn't seen Potter blatantly pouring his drink on her date's head) looked daggers at him.

"Davis! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to," exclaimed James, innocently "I was holding my tankard and I tripped, I'm sorry." Davis seemed to hesitate, but then he nodded once. The redhead didn't buy James' act for a second, and narrowed her eyes, but she didn't think it was appropriate to yell at him if Aidan had accepted the apology. Instead, without taking her eyes out of Potter, she waved her wand and cleaned the Hufflepuff in a second, who smiled, thankful.

"What the hell are you looking at?" The redhead spat out looking at James, who was still standing there with the empty tankard on his hands. Aidan couldn't suppress a smile.

The boy in glasses turned around again, sitting on his place in an obvious bad mood, which could perfectly compete with the girl who was sitting in front of, who had seen how her date had stood up and emptied his hot beer on the Hufflepuff's head. She raised her eyebrows, waiting for an explanation that never came. Then, the brunette stood up gracefully, willing to leave the place.

"Where are you going?" James asked, lightly surprised.

"I get it James, I'm not stupid. You don't fancy me, you just care about Evans," the girl went red in rage when the boy didn't try to deny it, even though she usually was such a sweet girl. "And you just asked me out to have someone to snog while your dream girl gives you the cold shoulder. My friends will say I'm crazy to leave sexy-freaking Potter, but I don't care if you are a greek God, I don't deserve to be used like this. You can go to hell, Potter, you and your girl." And she said all of this in a quiet tone, leaving the pub immediately after.

James sighed: yeah, Corner wasn't stupid, and she wasn't the little angel she seemed to be a while ago. At the end of the day it would turno ut that the Gryffindor was a little bit more like Lily than he thought, with that terrible temper.

…

The morning with Lupin and Pettigrew had been quite entertaining, they had to admit it. They had went all over the town, and even though Pettigrew hadn't spoken much, Lupin was really nice, despite he had dragged them to Honeydukes at mid-morning, desperate for a little bit of chocolate. At that shop they had met Rebecca, who had dumped Oliver and was wandering around the town looking for her friends.

"I had forgotten that Lils had a date with Aidan," she commented when she met them "I had came here because I thought she might have brought you."

"She wouldn't have needed to; Lupin did it for her." Sam answered, and Becca burst out laughing.

"Come on, handsome, let's go to The Three Broomsticks, it's almost time to have lunch" she said, hanging on the lycanthropes arm and dragging him out of the place.

The five of them headed to the pub and sat on a table at the back, asking for unbeliavable amounts of food to a surprised Madame Rosmerta.

"We have to feed her," explained Rebecca, pointing at little Bree, who was, in fact, the one who ate the most among the four of them. Everyone roared with laughter, chatting animatedly until the food arrived. Right then, a dark-haired, grey-eyed boy flopped down next to Bree, stealing Rebecca's plate and getting a mouthful of whatever she was eating, and then saying:

"Whots ugp?" The blonde kicked him under the table, earning a killer glance from the dark-haired boy, who turned to Brianna, pouting. The girl laughed and tucked a slice of bread in his mouth.

"Rosmerta already saw you arrive, she knows you; she'll bring more: she knows you can eat a whole elephant." She said it and, sure enough, some minutes later there was Rosmerta, placing a great amount of food on the table and winking sassily at Sirius before dissappearing swinging her hips.

Sam rolled her eyes.

"What, are you jealous?" asked Sirius sardonically, "There's enough Sirius for y'all, babes" This time everyone rolled their eyes, even Peter. "You have betrayed me, midget." Said Black, hurt, and Bree laughed.

"So, what happened to Desiree?" asked the lycanthrope, knowing the answer.

"I've told her that I need to be alone for a while and stuf" the boy answered, taking the importance out of it with a hand gesture.

"Not before sticking your tongue down her throat" Rebecca commented. Samatha pretended to gag and almost everyone at the table laughed again. "How do you think Lils did with Aidan?" the blonde asked, but right then, Bree interrupted her:

"Look, there's Potter." James was a few tables away, kissing Corner.

"That's my boy" Sirius said, and Sam snorted.

"And there's Lily!" Bree exclaimed, a little louder than she should have. Lily had just entered The Three Broomsticks, and she was smiling at whatever Aidan was saying.

"I'll say it again: Evans' legs are amazing." Sirius commented, but no one listened, cause right then Aidan seemed to be about to kiss Lily. "James won't like this…" Black started to say, and as if he had Heard them, Potter had stood up, turned around and emptied his tankard on the boy's head.

No one said nothing as they saw Lily trying to pulverize James with her eyes, and Corner spitting out who knows what at him before leaving him, her eyes sparkling angrily.

Soon after that, Potter stood up to leave, but then spotted his friends' table and approached to them, flopping down next to Peter in a bad mood.

"I think I screw up." He announced after some minutes. Sam stifled a guffaw, but Rebecca answered:

"Oh, I assure you you did."

**Answers to reviews:**

**ArianaSaffyreMalfoy: I'm glad to see you again, and glad you've kept on readign! Thank you for that, thanks for commenting, and thank you for being so patient! I know I haven't been a very good author, updating one time every month lol xD But thank you, and I'm really glad you enjoyed it and liked my approach of Sirius and Regulus relationship!**


	20. Chapter 20: A little bit of everything

_And once again, I'm back! And with a chapter one week after last one, as promised! I behaved, haha._

_Well, I hope you like the chapter… I'm not very happy with the writing style on this one, but I've been a little blocked lately… you'll have to tell me what you think of it! I have a couple of things to say, but I'll do it in the end cause I don't want to spoil it _

_As always, the answers to the reviews are at the end!_

_Oh!And last time I pasted them bad :/ don't know why it doesn't let me do it! If someone's interested tell me in a review and I'll give you the link. The drawings are really worth it!  
_

"Sometimes I can't believe you're that stupid, Potter."Sam said with a little bit of compassion in her voice. James didn't even look up, concentrated on touching a knot that stood out on the wooden table.

"I know." He said, sighing. Sirius patted him comprehensively on the back.

"James, I've told you hundreds of times," said Remus, shaking his head. "You have to stop behaving like a bighead if you want Lily to notice you." Becca smiled at the lycanthrope and nodded.

"You should listen to your mates for a change, Potter. Moony here is right." She asid, using the nickname she had heard the Marauders give him. Lupin looked at her with a half smile; he knew she was said it mockingly, and Rebecca answered with an angelic saintly smile, fluttering her eyelashes with fake innocence.

Everyone tried to cheer him up uselessly; James seemed really depressed, without a trace of the arrogance displayed just a few minutes ago.

"James, why don't you come with me for a walk around Hogsmeade?" Brianna suggested, surprising the Marauders. The girls, however, smiled: Bree was the most empathetic person on earth, she was understanding, sweet, she never judged you, and her advice was difficult to ignore. Sirius understood it immediately and nodded:

"Come on, James, go, you're depressing us all, mate" That took a tiny smile out of the boy, who stood up and followed the brunette dragging his feer.

They both walked around the town for a while without saying anything. The truth was that it came in useful for James; he needed some minutes of reflection without being interrupted. Bree knew it, and that's why she let him think as they walked under the drizzle that had started to fall. She waited for him to be the first one to break the silence, which happened after half an hour:

"It's raining," anyone would have laughed at such an obvious statement, but Brianna waited. "Lily must be freezing."

"I'm sure Aidan will lend her his coat." She answered softly. The boy's face contorted at the mention of the Hufflepuff. "Now tell me, James, do you mind that Lily went out with him?" she asked, using his name for the first time.

"Of course I do!" Potter exclaimed, inevitably irritated. "He's a jerk; he's not good for her" Brianna raised her eyebrows and looked at him with the playful reproach that one can recognize in grandmothers when they reprimand their grandchildren. James couldn't help but laughing, which made him relax. "Fine, I mind because I'm jealous" He said. The girl nodded satisfied: even if he was clarifying the obvious, it was necessary that he admitted it out loud.

"And if you like Lily so much, as you acclaim all the time, why did you invite Corner to Hogsmeade? And not just her: what about all the other girls?" The brunette asked. Potter opened his mouth to reply, but Bree kept saying: "I'd understand that you dated other girls if you had decided to give up on Lily; but you have to think a bit on how all you do looks from her eyes. A bloke that gets on your nerves since you were eleven years old starts to chase you around the castle announcing to all and sundry his love for you. You think it's just another one of his nonsense, but the thing persists beyond third year, and now we are almost in fifth and the boy keeps with it. At first, it annoys you, but then, it confuses you; what the hell does he hope to gain with all of this? If it's just another one of his pranks, like the ones he usually plays on your best friend (which apparently have no reason at all), then they have gone too far: what if you had believed him? But the thing goes on, and you start to doubt thinking that he really does want to go out with you. That's what your friends tell you. And at the same time, you see him parade up and down Hogwarts with tons of different girls, which only confirms that his egocentrism and arrogance are more than just a pose. And you realize that even if it's true that he wants to go out with you, you're just some kind of trophy for him. Just like the rest of the girls."

James was stunned with Bree's little speech. No one hade ver made it more clear. He looked at her in the eye, mute, and the girl's expression softened a bit.

"She will never realize that you love her if you keep behaving like this, James. I can guarantee she will if you change, but don't expect anything else if you don't." Potter smiled and put his arm around her shoulders, though not haughtily, but with affection instead.

"Thanks, Brianna." He said, letting her go and staring at her curiously. "Sirius is right, you're great."

She smiled sweetly.

"And I'll tell you another thing, though you probably won't listen to it now. I know you'll try to change, I really do, cause I'm sure you love Lily. But you won't change from one day to another, and probably more than once you'll forget this conversation; they've been many years of behaving like the golden boy."

"I won't forget this, Bree," he started to say, puzzled, but she interrupted him.

"Yes, you will, many times. Sometimes you'll even try to call her attention the same way you've been doing until now, playing the fool and behaving like a bighead. Don't take it bad. But as long as veeeery deep inside you take into account what we've talked about today, it'll be fine."

"Ok." He agreed, still doubting that it would happen. The brunette smiled, and in her blue eyes James found a girl much older, and he saw all that Sirius saw in her.

"Now let's go back to the castle, before your friends think I've kidnapped you."

…

After being interrupted by that berk of Potter, the date with Aidan had went back a few steps, though Lily wasn't sure why. They had finished eating chatting so politely that it was almost formal, and then they had decided to go for a walk around the town. They had had fun, but the conversation seemed a little forced and the redhead didn't know why. The boy seemed slightly uncomfortable, and Lily found it hard to forget the incident, so, despite she tried to avoid it, she was still quite irritated.

In the end, it had begun raining, and she hadn't helped spitting out a string of insults directed to Sam that had made the Hufflepuff laugh, easing the situation. He had given her his coat so that she would be covered while they walked towards the castle, placing an arm over her shoulders. From then on, the conversation seemed natural again, but the boy hadn't attempted to kiss her again. When they had reached the Entrance Hall and they were saying goodbye, he seemed to have the intention of doing so, but he changed his mind half-way, giving her a clumsy kiss on the cheek instead and wishing her a nice day.

Lily went up the stairs lost in thought, thinking about Aidan and about how Potter seemed to enjoy screwing her life up. When she was about to arrive at the Common Room, she realized she still had the Huflepuff's coat over her shoulders, and she told herself that she would have to give it back to him the next day. A sneeze made her notice that the garment hadn't helped too much; she had probably caught a cold.

The Common Room was warm and almost empty, except for a couple of first and second-years, but the redhead went straight to her room to change her clothes before going back down to read for a while.

When she arrived at her Common Room, she placed the coa ton the bed and before she could finish unzipping her dress, she saw Prince standing obediently on the windowsill with a letter tied to her leg. She rushed to open the window and let him in; he was probably bringing a letter from his parents: Severus had lent the owl to her some days ago and she had sent him home. She took some candies out of the night table's drawer and gave the to the bird, softly stroking his head as she untied the letter.

The redhead took the envelope and sat on the bed with her legs folded, anxiously unfolding the parchment: she missed her parents so much! But when she read a couple of lines her expression changed, bursting into tears and dropping the letter.

…

"So, now that the drama is over, why don't you tell us why you are in such a good mood, Perks?" Sirius asked perceptively once that James and Bree had left The Three Broomsticks.

Sam rolled her eyes but smiled a little, almost imperceptively. Becca looked at her with suspicion, narrowing her eyes.  
"So you've been all day in a good mood? I was thinking how weird it was that you could stand being with this moron longer than half a second." She said, pointing at Black with her head. Remus let out a chuckle and his friend smacked him on the nape with his palm.

"You must admit she's right, Sirius" He commented, and Peter laughed too.

But Rebecca didn't want to let it go.

"I knew I had seen the Rivers' owl flying around the owlery," she said. Sam blushed, surprised, and Sirius gave a start. "Eli already invited you to go with him this summer holidays, hasn't he?"

"Yeah," the dark-haired girl answered, apparently concentrated on observing a piece of bread. "His mother has to go to Portugal because of some Ministry business, and right then they'll be playing the finals of the Regional Quidditch Torunament. It's just four days, but I really wanted to see that match"

"I didn't know you were dating Rivers, Perks!" Black exclaimed. Sam gave him a withering look, and Becca burst out laughing.

"And why they should've told you, Sirius?" Remus asked, laughing.

"I'm not dating Eli!" Sam exclaimed, red to the roots of her hair. Everyone ignored her.

"You're a nosy old besom, Black." The blonde nodded, agreeing with Lupin. "Sam has no reason to tell you about her love life. But you have to tell me, Sam, so spill the beans"

"I said I'm not dating him! Can't a boy invite me to the Quidditch Tournament finals without everybody thinking that we'll be snogging during the half-time?" Sam grumbled angrily.

"Well, that visible blush tells us otherwise, sweetheart." Sirius commented mockingly. The girl quicked him under the table. "You should all give up that bloody habit of yours." He said after groaning in pain.

"Well, I know he fancies you," Rebecca crooned. Now it was Sam's turn to ignore her.

"What time is it?" she suddenly asked, unpolitely. The lycanthrope glanced at his wrist watch before answering:

"Four o' clock, why?"

"We have Quidditch training at seven. I'm off of here; I'll need to rest a bit before bearing with Bailey's yells while I soak to the skin under the rain." She answered, standing up.

"You have training _today_?" the blonde asked, standing up too. "And I used to think that the Ravenclaw team's captain was strict, he always steals Eli from me when I need him"

"I'll go with you, Perks" Black announced, and Rebecca stared at him incredulously. He shrugged his shoulders. "I always go to see James to the trainings."

"I'll go with you" Peter rushed to say.

"I pass," said Remus "But I'll go with you, I'll stay at the common Room"

At the end, the whole group decided to go back to Hogwarts; they had been at Hogsmeade since the morning and the storm looked awful: thank goodness Dumbledore had had the bright idea of proposing they visited the village earlier. Sam headed the procession towards the castle, walking quickly and with her arms crossed, followed by Peter and Sirius, who triet to make her angry with insidious comments on her and Eli.

"They are like children," Remus laughed, walking some steps behind, next to RebeccaParecen niños," rió.

"Don't you get tired of taking care of them, Moony?" she asked, smiling so that he knew she was kidding.

"I stick my neck out you behave that way all the time." He replied, and she burst out laughing.

"Busted," she said, shaking her hair as she always did. "Lily's right, you get people quickly."

That seemed to surprise Lupin.

"I guess that's right," he answered, nodding and watching absently how Perks turned around and with a wand movement, she stuck up Sirius' nose the beans that Peter was eating.

"Well, I'm quite perceptive as well, Moony, and it's not hard to tell you have plenty of secrets," she whispered, as if she was confessing something no one else could hear. Lupin fixed his honey eyes on hers. "It'll be interesting trying to figure them out." And once she said so, the blonde winked one of her exotic brown eyes.

Remus watched her run towards Sam with a half smile on his face before trying to help Sirius with the jellybeans issue.

They arrived at the castle pretty wet and with a Sam and a Sirius in a much worse mood than they had when the day started, and they went up the stairs among laughter and grunts to the seventh floor. They said goodbye to Rebecca before going to the Gryffindor Common Room, where each one went to their corresponding room.

"Sam!" called her Bree when she was about to went up the stairs. The girl turned around and smiled at her friend.

"How was the chat with Potter?" she asked curiously while she waited for her to catch up and they both went up the stairs together.

"Okay." The little brunette answered briefly, going ahead to open the room's door.

They were so surprised that they just stood there for some seconds, without moving or knowing what tos ay: Lily was sitting on the floor, huging her knees, the tears runing down her cheeks and the sobs desperately coming out of her throat. Prince, standing confused on the bed, pecked a lock of the redhead's hair, who hadnt even hear them enter. Around her, on the floor, there were an envelope and a crumpled parchment.

Brianna was the first one to react.

"Lily! Lily, what's happened?" she exclaimed, approaching to her friend and kneeling next to her. The redhead raised her head and looked at her with her eyes swollen from crying so much.

"Dad's sicker than we thought" she whispered, her voice choked by sobs.

Sam closed the door delicately and sat on the bed, taking Lily's hair out of her face and combing it with her fingers, while Bree got closer to her and let her put her head on her shoulder. They didn't say anything, because they knew Lily wasn't a person who needed comforting words. Besides, there was nothing they could say: her father had been sick during several months until the doctors had discovered he had a strange lung disease similar to cancer. They had thought they could cure him, and for a while the treatment seemed to work, and it looked like he was getting a lot better, that's why this letter had been so unexpected. Everyone thought Lily's father was almost cured.

After an hour, Sam carefuly stood up and whispered at Bree:

"I'm gonna talk to Becca and write to Eli." The brunette nodded, still huging the redhead, who seemed oblivious to all that happened around her. Every now and then, she begun to calm down, and her sobs were almost inaudible, until all of a sudden she burst out crying again, interrupting the sobs with strong sneezes too.

Lily knew it: her father was dying.

When the redhead felt she had no more tears to shed, Bree took her to the bathroom and washed her face, whispering that everything was going to be fine, that her friends would be with her through the ordeal. Lily smiled at her, thankful, but when she was leaving the bathroom she had to grab the doorframe not to fall.

"Lily?" said Brianna with concern, zipping up the dress she was still wearing.

"I'm fine, I just felt dizzy. This cold has given me an awful head-ache, I'll go to the Hospital Wing to ask Madame Pomfrey to give me something that makes me feel better." Lily answered. Her voice wasn't shaky anymore, and the only thing that showed that she had cried were his red nose and her slightly swollen eyes.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Bree already knew the answer; after seeing Madame Pomfrey, Lily would want to wander around the castle on her own for a while, and maybe to see Snape too after that.

"No, thanks Bree, don't worry"

The redhead went down the stairs with her chin up; she didn't want anyone to notice that she had been crying, she didn't want them to ask for the reason of her tears. Maybe if she was lucky they would ascribe her red nose and teary eyes to the cold.

At least Leila Corner, who was sitting on one of the armchairs at the Common Room, didn't notice. She just saw a girl with a long mane of red hair and striking green eyes leave her room with her head up in a gesture that could appear arrogant if you didn't know Lily. She was no supernatural beauty, but she was pretty, and James had chosen her, and seeing her right then on that beautiful spring dress made Leila, usually a quiet girl, mad with jealousy and green with envy.

"Who are you meeting now? You're done with Davis and James for today, whose boyfriend are you stealing now?" she asked scornfully as she approached to Lily, who stared at her, surprised. Any other day she would have just kept walking, or yelled something at her, but today, vulnerable as she was, she had just stood there, looking at her, confused. "You're not even that pretty. In fact, without that hair, you attract as little attention as anyone else."

And after saying so, she took out her wand and waved it with fury, as if she was trying to cut the air, muttering unintelligible words under her breath. A curtain of red hair fell at Lilys feet, who couldn't do more than looking down in disbelief. Only then Leila seemed to realized about what she had done, widely opening her eyes and staring at her wand as if she didn't know how it had ended up there.

Lily seemed startled by what had happened, and with her tears all on edge as she had them, she decided to leave before bursting into tears without even knowing exactly why, and without even yelling at the girl, she abandoned the Common Room at a slow pace. Only when the portrait closed behind her, she started walking quicker and quicker, resisting the impulse of running. She was so lost in thought that she barely noticed she had just ran into someone.

"Evans, did you cut your hair?" And it had to be Potter. That helpless git; Potter, Potter! It was Potter's fault that they had just cut half her hair off! And without even thinking, she slapped him as hard as she could.

"Your girlfriend did." She answered controlling her voice, but she wasn't trying to hide her anger, but her tears. However, he noticed.

"Well, that's not a reason for crying, Evans." He answered without thinking, annoyed, as he didn't think he deserved that slap. She pushed him aside and ran away.

At that moment, James realized that he shouldn't have yelled at her like that. If it was true that Corner had done such a thing, it had been his fault. Anyway, it still wasn't a reason for crying.

The boy, furious, entered the Common Room and he instatly recognized Lily's bright hair, which was still on the floor; no one had dared to throw it away. But there was no trace of Corner, so he let off steam slamming the room's door shut.

He explained briefly and unwillingly to his friends everything that had happened and headed, still upset, to the Quidditch practice along with Sirius and Peter.

The training was a mess, and the rain only abated when they were already heading to the changing rooms.

"What happened to your face, Potter?" Sam asked when he noticed his cheek was swollen.

"Evans slapped me in the face." The dark-haired boy grunted, taking off his glasses and drying them on the robes. Sam gave a hint of a half smile.

"And why did she?" She tried not to sound mocking when she asked.

"Cause apparently Leila Corner cut her hair, which seems to be my fault," Sam seemed quite surprised. Sirius and Peter had left the bleachers and joined the conversation. "Maybe it was, but I don't think it's such a big deal. Hair grows, but Lily was crying as if they had cut her arm off, and that's what I told her." Potter ended up saying it with less confidence than he expected. He was beginning to doubt he had been right at answering back at her like that, and Sam's expression, with her eyes wide open, confirmed him so.

"Oh, Potter, you're such a git," she said, and quickly turned around, changing direction to head to the castle, but James stopped her grabbing her wrist: if she was leaving in such a hurry without evem changing her clothes, something was wrong. Sam looked at him in the eye and the boy could read concern in them.

"James…" The dark-haired girl hesitated, and the fact that she had used his first name without even realizing about it worried Potter much more. "James, Lily wasn't crying over her hair. Her father is dying"

"I'm a moron." The boy spat out, cursing under his breath and running towards the Castle

_Wellm you'll tell me what you think! And now, the things I wanted to tell you:_

_-We know that Harry has no grandparents, but Jo had already told us that any of them died in any strange situation, meaning none of their deaths involved Dead Eaters nor Voldemort. So, we know that at some point before James and Lily turn 20, 21, their parents died. It's not very believable to think they all died all of a sudden in the same year (sorry for the lack of sensitivity, so I don't think it's irrational that Lily's father gets sick (and as we know, is gonna die) when she's between 14 and 15, 16 years old… I'm not gonna say anything else for now, but we'll be talking about this again._

_-_ _I wanted Corner to do something that would affect, from her perspective, Lily's beauty, and as the most strking thing about her is her hair (and her etes, but come on, I'm not that violent!), I decided her to do something with it. To dye it would have been more like a joke than a revenge, and cutting was more drastic, more likely to occur to someone who is mad. Besides, even though I always picture Lily with a long red mane, we have to remember that when Jo describes her to us in Snape's Worst Memory (During her fifth year), her hair is shoulder-long. __Maybe it was cause Corner cut it! Haha_

**Answers to reviews:**

**Guest**: I'm glad you like the characters, and first of all, thank you a lot for taking your time for reviewing! I appreciate that a lot. And let me tell you that I definitely agree. James _is_ an asshole, or at least he acts like one, and he doesn't really deserve Lily, Corner, or any other girl, really. He doesn't seem to respect girls, and it's true that his actions doesn't make sense, because he hooks up with any girl he wants and then goes and spills butterbeer on Aidan's head. But, that's what I meant him to be during his first years. Remember, he's just fourteen, so he is not only driven by hormones, but also a self-centered brat, as Lily always says. I know not evert teenager is such a jerk, but James has always been the golden boy: his parents were elderly when they had him, so he has always been some kind of miracle, and everyone has made him believe so. Also, he is popular at school, and every girl wants him. It would have been hard for him not to be such an idiot. Sirius and Remus themselves tell us so during Order of the Phoenix (after Snape's Worst Memory)… Sirius admits they were assholes… However, they are actually good people. From the beginning of the fic (or at least, that's what I triet to show), you can see that if you look beneath that arrogance of his, he is actually a noble person, and an amazing friend. He would do anything for his friends, and you can also see that he has clear ideas and morals regarding the muggles, Death Eaters and stuff. But he's still a prat. I've always thought that he was a jerk regarding girls until he was around 15, and a jerk about his pranks to Snape & Co until he was around 16, so that's how I'm planning to make him mature. And don't worry, Lily is not gonna fall for him until he does grow up. However, she does like some aspects of him. You can see she lowers her guard when James is being himself. When he makes her laugh, when he's being brave… She fells for those little aspects of him, but she doesn't like the whole picture, the guy who dates girls just to snog them and dump them, the guy who makes awful pranks to her childhood friend, and the guy who (in her mind), doesn't really love her and just want to use her just as the rest of the girls. I think you kind of anticipated to what was going to happen in this chapter haha.

Gee, sorry for the rambling, but my point is, James is a good guy, but he definitely needs to grow up I hope I didn't bore you!


	21. Chapter 21: Summer letters

_Well, first of all, sorry for the delay… I didn't update in the whole week, but I couldn't write anything before cause my grandma was getting a surgery, so I wasn't really thinking about anything else._

_Well, here you go with the next chapter… They're like two short chapters in one, cause the second one has anything to do with the first one, but I didn't want to upload two chapters so short. It's quite a different chapter, I hope you enjoy it!_

The girl looked down and couldn't help shuddering: she didn't like heights. That was exactly the reason she had chosen the Astronomy Tower; she knew that none of her friends would look for her there. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate their support and company, but she didn't want to talk about her father. It hurt too much, knowing that she was going to lose him and being unable of doing anything to help him. She closed her eyes, placing her cheek on the cold stone and letting out a lonely sob. She didn't know for how long she had been there, she had lost all sense of tiem; maybe an hour, two, three. Who cared? She carried on unperturbed when she heard the steps, and the door opening; she was too absorbed in her thoughts to let those noises seep through her consciousness. After a while the steps started again, but walking towards her, and this time the girl did notice them, though she didn't show any sign of doing so. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure standing a few steps away, but the tears she hadn't shed and that still bathed her eyelashes didn't let her recognize it. The figure approached and leant on the stone wall, right next to the window, staring at her. She lightly turned her head and her eyes expressed (involuntary and momentarily) surprise when she recognized those hazel eyes that shone through the glasses with…concern? She held his look for some seconds before turning to the grounds again.

What the girl had seen in James' eyes _was _concern, and some relief, too: he had looked for her all over the Castle until he had found her. He hadn't thought she might be there, in the Astronomy Tower: he still remembered the little redheadwho shook from head to toes in her first flying lesson, and who had ended up smashing against the floor. But he had decided to check anyway: he needed to find her. When he had opened the door, he had seen her there, leaning on the window, her red hair irregularly cut, her delicate shoulder trembling almost imperceptibly. He had watched her for a while before deciding to approach, and when she looked back at him, his heart shrank. Lily was suffering, and he didn't like to see her suffer. Her big, green eyes expressed pain, and her characteristic smile, and her scowl (James was more familiar with that one) were gone. The news of her father's disease had transformed the strong and confident redhead into a vulnerable and anguished girl, and James couldn't stand seeing her like that.

"Lily…" he called in a soft voice. She closed her eyes. Potter. But no, at that moment, she didn't hate Potter; the sadness thar flooded her crushed any other emotion she could feel. She turned her head again and looked him in the eye. "Lily, _I'm sorry_." He whispered, and the redhead felt the pain in his words. "I really am, I'm an idiot, I didn't know -"

"It's ok, Potter," she interrupted him "It's not your fault. You couldn't know." He reyes stopped for a second on her interlocutor's swollen cheek. "And sorry I slapped you." That apology could have taken a smile out of James if the anguish of those green eyes wasn't still in his mind.

"And I'm sorry about your father, Lily." The whisper was almost inaudible, and the intensity of his hazel look had a profound impact on the redhead. A tear trickled down her cheek without permission and she rubbed it violently, looking back outside.

"Thank you." She said, emotionless.

The boy observed her delicate profile, her soft freckles, her thick eyelashes.

"If there's anything I can do…" He left the sentence unfinished, and his whisper dissolved into the breeze. She didn't turn to look at him.

"Thanks. But there's nothing you can do. That no one can." She said it to herself more than to James, and she couldn't avoid the shaking of her voice.

"I know. I know how you feel, kind of." He answered. She looked at him, slightly frowning, questioningly. James sighed. "My mum has been sick for quite a while now… It's not like what your father has, though, I think. I mean, it's not like we were certain that she will-" He cut himself short, mentally cursing his inadequate word choice. But it didn't seem to bother Lily, who, with her eyes lost somewhere behind him, finished the sentence for him in a whisper:

"…die." Potter messed up his hair, slightly uncomfortable.

"Yeah… Well, but she's sick, and there's nothing the healers can do, nor anything I can do. That's why I can say that I know how you feel, the helplessness, the anger, the pain…" Now it was his eyes that had lost, while Lily's were fixed on him.

"Thank you" She repeated, truly thankful this time. He noticed it and look her in the eye, immediately looking away, to the grounds.

Right then, an owl entered through the window, dropping a small and crumpled piece of parchment on the redhead's lap. She took it and after glancing at it she put it in her pocket, but not before James could read the initials '_S. S._' at the end of the note, clenching his jaw when he did so.

Both of them remained silent for a while; Lily's gaze on the grounds, and James' gaze on his redhead, until she slowly stood up, announcing:

"I should go. They are waiting for me." Both her and the boy fixed their eyes on the girl's pocket for a second, and Potter nodded.

They left the Astronomy Tower, still silent, and right when Potter was about to offer walking her to wherever she had to go, Remus appeared in front of them and tightly hugged the redhead.

"Oh, Lily…" he whispered. She hugged him back, burying her face on the lycanthrope's chest. James couldn't help feeling a pang of jealousy. "I ran into Becca, she told me."

When they finally let go, Lily gave her friend a sad smile.  
"Thanks, Remus."

"You know you can count on me." He answered, taking a lock of red hair and looking at it. Its tips were singed; Corner had probably used the Blazing Spell.

"It looks awful" Lily commented, saddened. James, next to her, shifted uncomfortable, and only then Remus seemed to notice his presence, getting slightly surprised.

"No, it's not that bad. Becca has already said that Eli can cut it even, and then you just have to let it grow." She smiled a bit, nodding.

The redhead said goodbye to both of them, who watched her walk away.

"You found her." Remus said once she had left.

"Yeah, but it wasn't easy," he snorted, heading to the Common Room "There should be a spell to know where in the castle is everybody, I wouldn't like losing the readhead again. And a map. I had forgotten that the corridor in the third floor that we found a few months ago led to a room full of doxys, we should mark somewhere everything we find out"

"You know? That's not a bad idea, James"

…

The last months flew, and the only thing the redhead wanted was to go home. That summer she didn't see her friends much, except for Severus, because she had preferred to stay home with her parents. However, she had kept in touch with them through letters …

_Lily,_

_How have you been? I'm missing you so much! Mum's finally on holiday, so we'll go visit my granny for a week, but I promise to visit you as soon as I can!_

_My parents send their love, to you and your family. How's your mother? And your father? And what about Petunia, how is she taking it? Yopu know you can count on me for anything you need._

_Sam and Eli are already in Portugal, they got there a few hours ago, they'll probably write you soon. Have you heard of Becca?_

_I send you too some cookies my mum made, she insists that you have to taste them. I think she put the recipe on the package, in case your mother likes them. I hope Bonnie didn't eat them you what a sweet tooth she has._

_I'll be waiting for your letter! Send it to my grandma's, I'll probably be there already._

_Love,_

_Bree._

_..  
_

_How are things, Sirius? Enjoying the faimily dinners? I hope the stuff from Zonko helped to make them a little bit funnier; I'll be expecting a detailed description on Bellatrix, Narcissa, and your dear mother's hang in there for some more weeks and then they'll let you come visit me, I'll write to Moony so that he comes here too, after the full moon. We can give it a try then, I think we got it. I haven't heard of Pete, have you?_

_Here things are just as usual, incredibly boring, I hope you come here son to cheer everything up. Mum's asking about you, she says you're not well fed and to tell you to be prepared for gaining back a few pounds- Dad's asking about you too, but I think he's afraid you'll empty our cupboards… thought probably the one who misses you the most is Emily, who already has your bedroom ready as if you were coming tomorrow; por old lady, she thinks you're a saint. Anyway, I miss you too, mate, I hope to see you soon,_

_James._

_PS: Do you think I should write to Lily?_

_..  
_

_Sam and Eli,_

_Bree has told me that you're already together in Portugal, so I send this for both of you. I hope you get the letter; the owl doesn't seem very reliable, I think I should buy one. You must be having a great time, enjoy the Tournament! And visit the town, I've heard it's beautiful. You have to show us some pictures when you come back. _

_Tuney is thinking about taking a typing course next year, when she finishes school, if things with dad doesn't get much worse. Maybe it'll be good to have her away from home for some time._

_Breetold me she was at her grandmother's, but I know nothing about Becca, and I don't remember where was her aunt taking her this time. Let me know if you hear from her!_

_Love,_

_Lily._

_..  
_

_Nana,_

_**(A/N: Sirius sometimes calls Brianna 'Nana', just to bug her… I don't think I've mentioned it before)**_

_How's life? I'm just here, locked at my place for a change; I hop e your holidays are going better. In a few days I'll probably be at James', so send your letters there; I can't wait to be free from these maniacs. They are completely insane, Bree, I sweat, I don't think I can't stand one more minute here. My brother is more and more like then, the rest of the Slytherins and my family have taken care of it. I wouldn't be surprised if he ambitioned to join the Death Eaters someday. And according to wait I've heard, Voldemort is recruiting more and more followers. Each time I hear about a new attack I can't stand it, Bree, I can't stand to think my family supports it. _

_Do you think that, deep inside, I am like them? I am a Black, after all. Is it in my blood?_

_Hope to see you son, midget,_

_Sirius_

_PS: How's Evans? James is driving me crazy, I swear if his next letter mentions the redhead, I'll murder my friend. Maybe he'll calm down with some news._

_..  
_

_Lils,_

_Merhaba! That's the only Turkish word I've learnt so far, but whatever, I don't need much more. Istanbul is fantastic and I still have so much to visit! I miss you tons, I hope everything is ging ok over there, Lils… Send my love to Dahlia and William, would you? And Petunia… well, send my love to Petunia as well, I know she'll like it, you know how much she adores me. I've received a letter from Bree, but have no news about Sam and Eli. Any juicy gossip to tell me? Have they admitted they love each other and they're planning the wedding? Because at this pace they'll take longer than you and Potter (come ooon, answer the letter, you know I'm kidding!). And have you heard of your friend Moony?_

_I write this last few lines in a hurry cause my aunt is calling me, the guide has arrived to take us to some place._

_It seems the thing is bigger than we thought; even here they've heard about Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He has no power here, of course, but they know him, and many fear him too. Take care, Lils, do you promise?_

_Becca._

_PS: This cute little owl is for you, I owed you a birthday gift. She has no name, so name here whatever you want. She has quite a temper, but they say pets are a lot like their owners, so this one suits you perfectly. _

_..  
_

_Moony,_

_How did you spend the full moon? I hope it wasn't too bad, but I got good news! When all of you are here we're going to give it a try, what do you think? I've already talked to Pete and he told me he has been practicing on his concentration and all of that, and I think we're ready. Pete'll be here next week, and Sirius is trying to sneak out of his place (it probably wasn't a good idea to pour the nail-growing potion on his cousins' beverages when Kreacher was looking). I'll be waiting for your reply, and no 'buts', you come here as soon as you can and we give it a try._

_Have you spoke to Lily? Should I write to her? Sirius says I should, but I think he was just trying to shut me up. Would you write to her?_

_James._

_PS:If I write to her, what should I say?_

_..  
_

_Remus,_

_Thank you so much for your letter, and for worrying; I'm ok, as far as posible. I think… I think dad has already accepted it. He tries to be cheerful all the time, to avoid worrying us. He's an exceptional man, I'm sure he'd like you. And what about you, how have you been? Are you still ill? I hope not. _

_Do you like my new owl? It's a gift from Becca, her name is Arya and she has a terrible temper, you'll be lucky if she doesn't pecks your fingers. I hope she finds you, I don't know if you're at Potter's already. And tell him to stop bothering you. In fact, why don't you give him this letter to read?: POTTER STOP BOTHERING REMUS. Done, problem solved. Hope to see you soon!_

_Love,_

_Lily._

_..  
_

_Lily,_

_Evans,¿How_

_Readhead, hey, ¿wha_

_Lily,¿How are you? I just wanted to know how you were. I didn't know if I should write to you. Siriu_

_Lily, ¿How are you? I know it's a stupid question, and that your holidays aren't as happy as for the rest of us. I just wanted to know if you were ok, and I wanted to tell you I'm here for anything you need._

_James._

_PS: My mum knows about this potion that makes the hair grow, in case you're interested. I'm not saying you don't look pretty like you're know! You look fantastic. But _

(Of course, this one still rests on our dear Potter boy's desk)

_Well, what do you think? __I chose to use the letters to nárrate what happened during the summer cause I think that this time it wouldn't be enough with a brief paragraph before the fifth year, but I didn't want to use two chapters for it either, cause anything really important happens. I know it's not my best chapter, but I think this time my blockage has a good reason…_

**Answer to reviews:**

**Guest**: Well, I don't know when you'll see this, as you left me a review in chapter 1 and 3 cause you've just started, but thank you a lot for starting Reading this and for taking your time to leave a review! I'm super glad you liked it so much, I hope you continued reading and you like it as well!


	22. Chapter 22: On the Hogwarts' Express

_Hello again! Well, before we start, I'd like to **explain a few things: **_

_In last chapter, the **last letter **(the one that James writes to Lily but never sends) should've been crossed out (I write in word, and FF always keepts the bold and italic format, but it didn't kept the line crossing out the words in that letter. I tried to edit it, but I couldn't). THe idea was that James started to write the letter many times, not knowing how to start or what tos ay, and ended up writing a terrible letter that he never sent. As the words aren't crossed out, I don't think the message came across haha, so if anyone knows how to fix that little detail, please let me know! Thanks_

_Before starting with the first year, I'd like to explain what's my point when I jump from one momento in the story to another one so abruptly and stuff, because it may have been too sudden to go from the Easter Holidats at Hogwarts to the Summer Holidays. Some of you may remember that a while ago, I decided to speed things up a bit by explaining in a few chapters per year the development of the characters' relationships. So, I'd like to know your opinión about if I was able to express these things I was looking to express:_

_-**First and second year:** Explained through flashbacks; the years when they start Hogwarts and each group of friends meet. They're still kids; the marauders just do mischief, discover Remus' secret and don't worry much about the redhead and co (though we know that James actually does). On the other hand, Lily's crew meet and build their friendship, not thinking much about the marauders._

_**-Third year: The year the infatuation begins.** Lily and Remus' friendship begins; James starts to show he's interested in Lily, but he's so arrogant and self-centered he doesn't have a chance. The marauders, already known for their mischief, are, during their teen years, coveted by every girl in the school. The end of the chapter before fourth year sums it all up by saying "And that was just the beginning og the whole thing"_

_-**Fourth year: Lily starts to get confused.** James is still infatuated, which starts to confuse Lily. He's still completely immature and a teenager guided by hormones, but there are certaindetails (Mulciber's incident, etc) that let us see he's actually a nice boy- But not only the marauders grow up; now there are boys interested in Lily as well._

_And well, that year I decided to jump abruptly from Lily's father news to the summer, cause I wanted to show that that's how Lily lived those last months; as if they hadn't existed. Permanently lost in thought, worried about her father, Lily lived those months as if she was into some kind of fog, and when it was time to go home, she woke up… I don't think I succeeded expressing that idea xD_

_Well, I hope this didn't was too boring t oread, we'll talk about fifth year later! And here you go, it was supposed to be twice as long, but I wanted to upload something now:_

**FIFTH YEAR**

The redhead sighed, smiling triumphantly when she finally could closet he loaded trunk, which seemed to be about to explode. Arya hooted, irritated; she didn't like at all that Lily had locked her in a cage, deceiving her to go in there with some sweets. The owl had a temper, but she usually obeyed Lily, and her mother too, whom she seemed to adore. The girl stuck a finger among the bars, caressing the sof feathers, but Arya, offended, moved away to the other side of the cage.

"Whatever."Lily murmured puting the trunk on the floor and placing the bird on it. She casted he reyes over the room one last time to make sure she wasn't leaving anything behind, and her eyes stopped on the shiny badge resting on her bed. She took it and stared at it. Prefect. Actually, it wasn't odd that Dumbledore had chosen her, but she wasn't expecting it either; she didn't even remember that one of them would be chosen Prefect that year. Her parents had been really proud when she told them the news, and Petunia had locked herself in her room, slamming the door shut.

She tucked the badge on her jeans' pocket, dragging the trunk as she walked. She stopped for a second in fron of her sister's door, but no one answered when she knocked with her knuckles, though she wasn't expecting that they did. Lily had lost all hopes of recovering the relationship she used to have with her sister, but that didn't make it hurt less to be ignored by her. During the summer they talked, at least, and they even laughed together every once in a while, but it would never be like it used to. And when the date when Lily would have to go back to school approached, or when they talked about Lily being a witch, a severe and disgusted expression appeared on her face for days, and she just stopped talking to her.

The redhead dragged the trunk with her to her father's room, delicately pushing the hañf-opened door and stuck her head in before entering. When he saw it, a really wide smile brightened the tired face of the man resting on the bed. He was very pale and thin, and the wrinkles in his face seemed to have multiplied during these last few months, making him appear (along with his scant, grayish hair) much older. But when he smiled, his green eyes sparkled as if he was twenty years old again.

"Good morning, dad. I came to say goodbye." William Evans sat up on the bed, coughing a bit as he did so. He had weakened a lot that last month, and his daughter frowned with concern, approaching to the bed.

"Good morning, Lily, honey." The man sad, still smiling, hugging the redhead "I hope you have a pleasant beginning of the year, and don't forget to write." Lily smiled back at him, giving her father a kiss on the cheek.

"Of course I will. I'll miss you both." She said, hugging her mother, who was sitting on a chair next to the bed. "The three of you." She corrected herself, and her mother smiled sadly.

"Bye, Lily. Say hi yo your friends for us." Dahlia said, kissing her daughter on the forehead.

"I will."

It took a lot of persuasive skills to get the cab driver to accept taking the owl, but the redhead's sweet smile ended up convincing him; she didn't have a choice, as she had told her mother not to worry about driving her: her father needed her more than herself.

She arrived early at the station, and as soon as she entered the platform, she went to change her clothers, putting the black school robes on, and placing the brand new Prefect badge on it. Now she only had to find an empty compartment to leave her stuff.

The girl went up the train, and when she did so someone hugged her so tightly that was about to make her fall.

"Liiiiiiils" the blonde crooned, planting a loud kiss on her cheek before letting her go, taking the redhead's trunk and pushing it into an empty compartment. "You've missed me, haven't you?" Lily laughed.

"Of course I've missed you, Becca. But I can't stay here to talk right now." The Ravenclaw frowned, pouting.

"And why's that?" Lily pointed at her badge; she had forgotten to tell her friends about it.

"I'm supposed to go to the prefects' carriage to get instructions and such. And then I guess I have to patrol the aisles." Rebecca pursed her mouth.

"Darn, this year the fun is over."

Lily walked away with a smile on her lips, shaking her head. When she entered the prefects' carriage, her smile widened:

"Remus!" She exclaimed, hugging him tightly. "I'm glad to see you here." The lycanthrope smiled.

"I knew it would be you." He said. And of course, Remus was the obvious choice for male Prefect, but Lily hadn't even thought about the other Gryffindor Prefect. She was glad it was him; he would be a great company when it was time to patrol the corridors. The redhead smiled once again: she had missed her friend so much! But when she observed him better she saw he was too pale and tired, the eternal rings under his eyes deeper than ever. Was he always sick? Actually, he did usually look pretty sickly and exhausted, but she had never given it much thought. However, with all she had been living recently, she did notice it this time, and it worried her. She scrutinized the boy's face in search for something that might indicate what did he have, but she could only see a light scratch that went from his ear to his neck; he could have got it any way, it wasn't unusual and it didn't seem to have anything to do with his disease.

"Are you still sick?" she asked, slightly frowning. The honey eyes shunned from hers.

"I'm better now; it was just a little relapse." He answered evasively.

But before Lily could inquire more into the subject, the Gryffindor's Head Boy started talking, and the meeting begun.

…

"And then he walked me to the Hotel. My aunt wanted to kill me, she seemed to be about of having a stroke or something, but it's not my fault I got lost." Rebecca related the tales of her adventures in Turkey, accompanying her colourfull anecdotes with broad hand gestures, while Sam listened attentively, unable to stop laughing. Bree, with her nose buried into an extremely interesting book she couldn't stop reading, smiled every now and then, though her friends weren't sure if it was because of the story or because of what Becca was telling them.

It had been a fun summer for both the blonde and Sam, and Bree had enjoyed a lot her quiet holidays, but they were all worried about the redhead. Her letters had been really cheerful, and they knew she would start the school year with a smile, ruling out her friends' worries, but they all knew she was actually sadder than she wanted to appear. They had talked about it now that Lily was at the prefects' meeting, but they had decided they wouldn't try to talk to her about it. If she needed it, she would end up opening up to her friends.

Right when Rebecca was finishing telling the story of the exotic Turkish boy who pretended to be a prince to win her over, the compartment's door opened and two dark-haired, smiling heads stuck in.

"Whassup?" One of them greeted, opening the door and adjusting his glasses. Both he and his mate gave them their best smiles, and the little chubby boy hiding behind them tried to smile too. "We were wondering if you would mind if we sat with you? The train is full and we're not what you would call punctual." Potter asked, while Sirius entered and gave Bree a huge hug. Sam and Becca looked at each other, and the black-haired girl shrugged her shoulders, snorting and folding her arms.

"It's just that we're pretty full in here, and I don't think Black's head will enter. But if you leave him outside, I guess it's okay…" said Rebecca, provoking James and Sam's laughter.

"I promise we'll keep him quiet; his head won't grow anymore if we keep him from flattering himself." The dark-haired boy in glasses answered, and his friend glared at him. Rebecca pretended to think about it for a while, and ended up nodding.

"Well, ok then" Sirius childishly stuck his tongue out at her, placing his trunk and Peter's on its place, while James did the same thing with his own.

"You need so many clothes that they couldn't fit in a single trunk?" The blonde asked when Sirius put a third piece of baggage in the luggage rack. Potter rushed to answer to avoid triggering the third World War.

"It's Remus'; he's at the prefects' carriage."

"Lily's there too," Sam answered, pointing at Arya, who had started to hoot. "And Eli."

"Let's hope they'll keep them busy for quite a while, 'cause when they can back, we won't fit in here even if we leave Sirius outside." Brianna added. Everyone laughed, and Sirius, sitting next to her, started pouting.

…

When she reached the end of the train, Lily turned around to go back to the prefects' carriage; she had agreed to meet Remus and Eli there when they were done with the patrol.

The meeting hadn't been interesting, they had just been informed of their responsibilities and duties as prefects, and then the Gryffindor's Head Boy and Girl had given her and Remus the first passworrd to enter the Common Room, as they would be leading the first years after the welcome feast. Really, the only thing worth mentioning about the meeting was that the new Ravenclaw Prefect had arrived twenty minutes late, clumsily opening the door and sitting on his place with a saintly smile. It was a surprise to see him there; Eli had forgotten to mention he had been chosen prefect too, though it wasn't odd that Dumbledore had done so.

During the patrol, Lily hadn't had any trouble, just a couple of second-year Gryffindors who tried to improvise a duel in a corridor, and a sixth-year tosser from Ravenclaw who hadn't paid attention when she had asked him to put away his Fanged Frisbee, but she had managed it quite well.

She was thinking about how hungry she was when she crashed agains a rock-solid chest; someone has left their compartment in a bit of a rush and hadn't bothered to check no one was passing by. Lily looked up in order to apologize and met two beautiful dark eyes that stared back at her along with a wide, white smile.

"Aidan!" The redhead exclaimed, blushing when she noticed she had her hands on the boy's chest. However, he didn't seem to mind, as he wrapped her in a warm and spontaneous hug. The girl felt awkward: she wasn't expecting such display of affection, but he didn't notice it, still smiling widely when he let her go. Lily smiled too: even though she couldn't say she had missed him, she has really glad to see him. When he had heard aboyt the girl's situation when she got her father's letter, he had approached to the Gryffindor table to tell her he would be for her if she needed him, but as he didn't know her that much yet, he had opted to take some distance and wait for the right moment to pick up the thread of their relationship where they had left it.

"I'm glad to see you, Lily." He said, still smiling. In his eyes, the redhead could see him hesitate, and she immediately knew that he was trying to decide whether he should ask her about her father or not. She took him out of the dilemma by answering cheerfully:

"I'm really glad to see you too." The boy seemed to relax, and casually caressed Lily's hair, which now brushed her shoulders; it had grown very little during the summer.

"I didn't remember you had cut it." He commented, and she touched it with her hand: she wasn't used to have it that way yet. Corner hadn't apologized, but she escaped from her look every time they met, and she tried not to be in the Common Room if Lily was there. Even though she would have liked an apology, Lily was glad the thing hadn't transformed into a huge drama, and besides, she knew the girl regretted doing it. What she didn't know is that Bree had had a tough job stopping Sam from doing more than slapping the girl as hard as she could, needing of Black and Lupin's help to take her out of the Common Room. They had had to drag her out while she thrashed about and yelled threats on how she would rip off Corner's tears one by one.

"It wasn't exactly a result of my own free will," the redhead answered. "But I'll tell you about it some other time; long story"

"Well, I hope to see you around at Hogwarts, then," Aidan said, and Lily noticed for the first time that a dimple appeared om his right cheek when he smiled. "And you tell me that story." The redhead smiled.

"See you around at Hogwarts" Aidan kissed he ron the cheek and Lily walked away smiling stupidly, but before she could go too far, she heard him calling her:

"Lily," She turned around. "Congratulations" He said, pointing at her badge.

The redhead smiled and, thanking him, said goodbye one more time.

When she reached the end of the train, she still had a silly school-girl smile on her face, and of course, Eli noticed it.

"Well, well, it appears Lily had much more fun than we did during her patrol. Next time I want the corridors she had to patrol." He said when she appeared. Lupin, standing next to him, gave a hint of a timid smile; even though they were both very different, ('cause Eli was usually outgoing while Remus was pretty shy) it had turned out that they got along quite well. Lily had always assumed they would, as in her opinion they did have a lot in common, even if it wasn't that obvious. Besides, Eli always knew how to make people feel comfortable.

The redhead rolled her eyes and asked: "Anything unusual, or you had quiet patrols?"

"I was _bitten _by a first-year kid, but I suspect it was a bet." Remus answered, and Lily burst out laughing with Eli, who had already heard the story but roared with laughter every time he remembered it. "Rivers, however, had no trouble at all. What about you?"

"Just a fanged frisbee and a duelling attemp between two second-years." She answered "Shall we look for the rest?" Lupin nodded and followed the redhead. Eli went behind them, but insisted:

"Don't try to drop it, Lils, darling; I don't think a smiling Frisbee and a duel can make you smile that way. Was it that hottie of Davis or was it another suitor?"

Shit, why did Eli had to be always so perceptive?

"You better shut it, Eli; I know very qell who makes _you _smile that way." That seemed to shut the Ravenclaw, and this time it was Lupin's turn to laugh.

"Look how shy you can get with some things, Rivers." He said. The boy laughed, but didn't insist on the topic.

They went around the train looking for the Marauders' or Lily and Eli's friend's carriage, but they were really surprised to find them all into the same compartment. They carefully opened the door, almost fearfully, I'd dare to say, but no one seemed to notice the newcomers, who looked with their eyes wide-open at the show taking place in front of them: In one of the corners, a little, curly brunette had her head buried into the book, trying to read the last chapter as she stopped one of the trunks for falling on her head. Right next to her, a dark-haired, grey-eyed boy who was wearing his robes back to front, argued at the top of his voice with a blonde that yelled all kind of insults, pointing at a trunk which had fallen to the floor, scattering its content all over the place. To their screams you had to add the hooting of three owls which seemed to be competing to make the sharpest noise (Arya was on the lead, followed closely by Cobaim-Sam's owl-, and finally by a more reserved Bonnie). The girl with the dark, straight hair, on the other side, struggled to close one of the trunks, standing on her seat, but Rebecca's black cat seemed determined to avoid it. On another corner, covering his head was hiding a chubby boy, while another person staggered around the carriage fighting against his robes, which here wrapping his head without letting him see. On his way, he crushed the sweets which were covering the compartment's floor.

"Well, this wasn't what I was expecting to find…" said Eli, bursting out laughing. Only then they noticed their presence, and everybody shut up (except for the owls), stopping whatever they were doing and staring surprised at the door. The only one who kept doing his thing was James, who could finally take the robes out of his face, though when he did so his glasses flew to who knows where. The truth is that he looked pretty ridiculous with the robes on his head and half-closing his eyes, but they had to admit he had _the_ sexiest body

"Errrr, Potter, you're on your bóxers." Sam said, breaking the silence. And as it was just what they were waiting for, the racket started again.

"Quiet!" yelled Lupin, and this time even the owls shut up. Lily was red as a tomatoe, and Eli just stood there laughing, so the lycanthrope had to take charge of the situation. "Would you explain to me how on earth this pitched battle started?" Everyone looked at each other, but no one seemed to know what had happened. "Can you at least tell me what was going on?" Peter's voice weakly came out of his corner:

"We were about to arrive, and Sirius and James weren't changed, Perks insisted that they should do it, but they wouldn't listen, until finally Boot convinced them, but they didn't want to leave the compartment so they started to change here. Perks didn't want them to and they started arguing, and then Sirius dropped his trunk while he put his robes on and it hit Moon on the foor, who started yelling, and Sirius did too, and the cate came out of nowhere and started scratching everyone, and James dropped another trunk and the owls started screaming, and Perks couldn't close it, and…"

"Fine, fine, it's ok, Pete, calm down." The lycanthrope interrupted him, trying to calm him dow: it looked as if the boy was struggling to breath. Right then, the driver announced they were about to arrive at Hogwarts.

Everybody stared at the mess, and Lupin sighed. "Try to tidy this up and get dresses already." He said, closing the door. "Oh, the year that we'll have."

_Well, what do you think? I hope this one's better than last one, which was a mess :s_


	23. Chapter 23: Of Animagic and Werelwolves

_Next chapter up! And sooner than expected_

_First, I would jus tlike to **answer some reviews** I got in previous chapters. They are anonymous, so I can't reply to them in a PM. I answered to two of them in the reviews section, but I'm not sure if they'll see them, so I'll post the answers here, in case those readers kept on reading the story. Oh! And please, next time you post as an anonymous please use a nickname or something, so that is easier for me to answer to you!_

_**Anonymous 1 (chapter 9):**_ _I know his name is Remus, but he is also a lycanthrope, and I use that word as a synonym to avoid repeating the same words, and it's not offensive at all. When I'm talking about James, I call him the boy, the boy in glasses, the dark-haired boy; with Sirius, I use the boy, the grey-eyed boy, etc. I call Remus by his name, by his nickname, I call him 'the boy', the honey-eyed boy, and 'the lycanthrope'. It's just a literary resource, to avoid repeating the same words when I have to mention him again and the words are just a few sentences appart_

_**Anonymous 2 (chapter 12): **Thanks for the input, I'll consider them for the following chapters. THey aren't really descriptions, though, I use them as synonyms. WHen I read a story, it annoys me when the names are repeated over and over, they are just as repetitive as what you call my 'descriptions'._

_They are literary resources, and I think they are valid, you may like it or not, and that's valid as well. They probably sound better in Spanish (I originally write this in Spanish and they translate it), as in that language, I can just say "moreno" (it's a noun) and it means "dark-haired boy"._

_I will consider it, though._

_**Anonymous 3 (chapter 12):** I do remember about that, but Harry didn't have to go through every single detention, if he had done so, he would still be doing that. James and Sirius got tons of detentions, the odds were that Harry would find them (especially since Snape wanted him to), but if Lily only had one, he was not likely to find it. So we can't know for sure if Lil got a detention or not. However, I do agree with you; Slughorn would have probably let everyone go unpunished. I realized about it after I wrote the chapter, and was about to change it, to make the mess happen at another lesson. But I wanted them to be alone during the detention, and I figured any other Professor would let them alone… So I just left it that way. If I had to rewrite it, I would probably change it, but I'm not doing it now… Just imagine Slughorn used to be a liiiittle bit more responsible back then :P Thank you for your critique!_

The boy stifled a yawn, placing his head on his hand in a gesture of boredom. It was Friday, and he couldn't wait for the lesson to end: they had more important things to do. Besides, the topic was boring: the Silencing Charm was really easy, and it such a long explanation was definitely not neccessary. Why had Flitwick made a whole theoretical lesson out of it? A few instructions would have been enough.

James casted his eyes over the room: Remus and Peter listened attentively to the Professor, diligently writing down notes while Sirius sketched, with an excellent technique, some drawings in a piece of parchment. And a few desks ahead, there she was.

The thick, dark red hair fell gracefully on her shoulders, framing the delicate face. James ran his eyes over it, smirking at the slight frown, admiring the curved eyelashes that were now hiding her eyes, smiling with tenderness at her little nose, carefully outlining her pinkish mouth. He wondered what it would taste like, and if it would feel as soft as it appeared.

Right then, a red lock escaped and brushed her right cheekbone, tickling her. Lily absentmindedly raised her hand and, still holding the feather quill, tucked it behind her ear leaving a tiny ink spot on her cheek. The boy noticed that the tiny little freckles that covered her nose and cheekbones were clearer than they usually were; they would probably become lighter as the winter approached, being almost invisible for Christmas. How far would those freckles go? Would they end at her face, or would they go down her neck towards her chest? James forced himself to think about something else; he didn't want to find himself in the need of ran out of the classroom in order to have a really cold shower.

Luckily, the bell rang, and both he and Sirius jumped from their seats. Remus and Peter, however, took their time to put their stuff into their rucksacks.

They left the Charms classroom and confidently headed towards the Room of Requirement, and the lycanthrope didn't stop complaining all the way there. James just hoped than once he saw everything went good, he would start taking everything with a little more sense of humor.

"You promised, Moony." Said Sirius, entering the room and settling the business. Remus sighed, but nodded. He knew he couldn't stop them from doing it, but he was still terribly worried about them. During the summer, they had been about to do it, but they had decided to wait to give Peter a little more confidence, and they had devoted those months to work with him in the aspects he was having trouble with.

"Are you sure?" the honey-eyed boy asked once that everyone was in their places. Sirius and James rolled their eyes with arrogance, but what surprised him was that Peter answered:

"Definitely." He pronounced that single word with a confident tone he had never used, and that was what convinced the lycanthrope.

It all happened so quickly that Remus couldn't even describe the moment for his friends later, and in less than a minute, the boy had two huge animals in front of him. His heart stopped for a second and fear invaded him, but it all went away when he saw the third creature rolling on the floor. It had worked. The lycanthrope started laughing with joy and relief, and he would have sworn that the animals were laughing too, even though they were only capable of emitting growls and strange moans.

Admired, the boy approached to them and observed them one by one. First, he stopped in front of an imposing and majestic stag with enormous prongs, who looked back at him with satisfied and haughty hazel eyes. Then he addressed the gigantic black dog, who started licking his face and then jumped over him, making him fall to the floor. The animal winked one of its grey eyes: just as he had supposed, that dog, so similar to the mythical Grim, was Sirius. Finally, Remus sat up and let the little rat climb up his arm, lovingly biting him. Peter.

His friends didn't transform back immediately after, instead, they spent a while learning how to move into their new shape, enjoying the fruits of their labor. Remys watched them with a smile on his face and a lump in his throat. His mates had made it. And they had done it for him.

When they had had enough, all of them went back to their human shape. The first to talk was Sirius:

"It's _awesome._" He said, stressing the expression with a hand gesture, "It's fantastic, Remus, you can't imagine what it feels like."

"So, a dog, huh?" Lupin commented with his indelible smile. With all they had studied about Animagi, they knew that the shape that each wizard and witch took reflected their inner nature. Of course Sirius was a dog; an animal characterized by their loyalty.

"What do you mean by 'dog'? I'm a majestic hound." The boy replied, proudly puffing out his chest. All of his friends started laughing.

"Come on, let him believe it," James said, patting his friend on the back. "Though my animal is much better: a stag! I knew it would be something cool like that." And yes, a stag suited James perfectly too: a noble animal like no other.  
But, why was Peter a rat?

"You don't know what you're talking 'bout, mate, being a dog is way better." And of course, the two of them started arguing like kids about something as stupid as which animal was 'cooler'. Little Pettigrew didn't add anything to the conversation, he wouldn't mind if he was a puma or a slug, he was just ecstatic: he couldn't believe he had made it! His eyes shone proudly, and Remus was proud of him too. They all were.

"All of your animals are cool, stop arguing already," Lupin interrupted them. "And you're both quite big, you can control me in case…"

"You lose control." Sirius finished the sentence for him, nodding. "Don't worry Remus, we're perfectly capable of keeping a tight rein on you, you saw us, we're huge."

"Well, I don't think I will help much, but at least I will be with you." Peter commented, slightly blushing. He was used to being unable of contributing in any important way, but being useless still embarrassed him some times.

"You're wrong," said Remus with a smile. The three boys stared at him questioningly. "You will be useful, and very, or don't you remember that to go through the passageway you've to stop the Whomping Willow first? Madame Pomfrey does it pressing the right knot with a stick, but you'll be in your animal shapes when you have to enter; you couldn't do it. Peter's perfect for the job: he's so little he can manage to slip through the branches and press the knot until you two are safe."

The boy smiled, radiant.

"Good idea, Moony." James praised him, putting his arm around Peter's shoulders. Remus frowned lightly.

"Y'know? We should find you a nickname as well. It's not fair that you can call me Moony and I don't have a name to call you. People already think I'm the weirder Marauder without the need of a nickname."

"That's not a bad idea," said Sirius, raising his eyebrows. "In fact, it could be useful; despite we always call you Moony, not everyone knows that we do, even less the Professors. We could use them for the map and stuff." Remus rolled his eyes; they had just transformed into Animagi, project that had taken them three years, and Sirius was already talking about the map.

"But, how could we call us?" James asked, "'Moony' was something Sirius said spontaneously, it's not like he gave it a lot of thought. It stuck cause it sounded good."

"Well, you don't haev to give it a lot of thought, actually," Remus replied, shrugging, "You're a staf, we could call you Prongs. Not too obvious, and it sounds good."

"I like it, "said James, smiling. "Prongs. Wicked!"

"Hey! What about me?" asked Sirius impatiently: he had liked Prong's nickname.

"Well, you're a dog," answered the recently named Prongs, "Why not Padded, or Pad? 'Cause of the geet, I mean…" His friend looked at him with an expression that made clear he hadn't liked the idea.

"That's the lamest nickname I've ever heard," the boy answered, annoyed. "You're no naming your dog. And even then, the name's stupid even for a dog."

"I like it," Peter added, shrugging his shoulders. Sirius glared at him.

"The nickname's stupid, and being named that way because I've got pads on my feet is even worse." He complained, "It's as if I called you Bucktooth or something"

Well, you can call him Wormtail for a similar reason, and that does sound good." Said James. Peter took the pet name immediately:

"I like it!" Sirius folded his arms in a childish way; he was the only one without a name.

"Y'know? I some parts of the U.K., the Grim is also called Padfoot. In Lancashire they call it both ways, but in Wakefield, leeds and other places they just call it Padfoot." Said Moony, and Sirius' expression changed. After considering it for a while, he nodded, satisfied.

"Padfoot sounds good. Even better than Prongs." James couldn't help rolling his eyes.

"Padfoot it is. And how the hell did you know all that?" he asked, and Remus shrugged.

"My father has always been superstitious."

They had to wait a few weeks before the next full moon, but the Marauders had played a few pranks on people taking advantage of Peter's new ability (Remus, of course, didn't approve.)

When the day finally arrived, out werewolf felt awful- With a tired sigh, he flopped down on the Common Room's sofa in order to finish some homework before heading to the Hospital Wing; it had been little more than a month since the classes had begun, but the teachers wouldn't stop talking about the O.W.L., and they were right: they had a lot to study if they wanted to pass them. Obviously, James and Sirius couldn't care less, and Peter was a bit worried, but he wouldn't start studying until they had to sit for the exams.

"Hi," Remus startled: he hadn't seen the redhead curled up on the other side of the sofa. She realized about it and smiled: "It seems this time was my turn to scare you." Lupin smiled back at her.

"It was about time. Doing some homework?" he asked, pointing with his head at the stack of books resting on the floor next to her. Lily nodded.

"Yeah, the O.W.L's will end up driving me insane, I swear," she said, sighing. "Of course, my friends don't give a damn. Not even Sam, who studies as much as I do." Lupin laughed.

"Same here. Maybe you should go with them for a while, relax a little."

"They are flying, the four of them," she answered, frowning. "I hate flying." She added childishly, and her friend laughed again.

"If you left your fear aside, you would actually enjoy it." He assured her. The girl left the quill aside and sat up, observing him. Remus looked really ill again

Lily had thought about it for quite a while; she didn't believe the boy had the bad luck of getting sick at least once a month. She had thought about asking him about it directly, but judging by the way he escaped he reyes and changed the subject when he was asked about his health, she knew he didn't want to tell her. Sam and Bree said she was being paranoid, but Becca had agreed with her: Remus had a secret, and Lily wanted to find out what it was. Not out of curiosity (the redhead didn't use to nose around in other people's business), but out of honest concern. Maybe she could help him.

"Are you feeling alright, Remus?" She asked sweetly. The boy shifted uncomfortably on his seat; he had noticed his friend had been analizing his tired face.

"Actually, I'm feeling a bit sick. I think I should go to the Hospital Wing." He answered. Lily made as if to get up.

"I'll go with you."

"No, don't worry," the lycanthrope stopped her. "One of the blokes will." He said, making a gesture towards his friends, who were laughing out loud. Remus guessed the reason and frowned; he was sure he had heard some girl scream something involving the word 'rats'.

Lily nodded and let him go, but the topic kept wandering in her head.

…

Night had fall a few hours ago, and a deadly silence reigned in the grounds. The sky was clear and there was no breeze to move the trees' branches or caress the lake. However, behind the castle, the scene wasn't so static. Two imposing figures raised some steps away from the Whomping Willow, waiting. The full moon's white light bathed their fur, and the stag's splendid prongs casted ghostly shadows thanks to it. You had to look very closely to be able of sighting the lttle creature which approached to the tree with quick and quite steps. As soon as its little feet touched the trunk, the branches begun to move, violently hitting an invisible enemy. The rat carefullt approached to the knot, and when it stood on it, everything stopped. The stag and the huge black dog didn't hesitate, and disappeared through the tunnel in the blink of an eye, followed by the rat.

It wasn't hard to get to the end of the tunnel, where they were received by an immense adult wold, which emitted a growl when he detected their smell. The animal bled in several parts of its body (he had probably hurt himself), and it would have been scary for anyone. But they knew that inside that wolf was Remus. At first, the lycanthrope was confused; his animal mind didn't understand what those indivividuals were doing in the place that was his prison. However, he had recognized them; they were his three friends, the Marauders, who had decided to be with him during his painful nights of full moon. His mind seemed to settle; paradoxically, those animals were waking the human buried deep inside his wolf body. That must have reflected in his eyes, 'cause the gigantic black dog jumped on him. The werewolf showed him his teeth, getting on the defensive, but Sirius started licking him, and the animal understood that he just wanted to play. The stag approached to them, playfully tapping him with his snout, and the rat jumped from James' back to his.

When the animals were sure that part of their friend was conscious, and that they would be able of controlling him anyway if something happened, they decided to go outside. Just for a while, and as an experiment. If it didn't work out, they would never do it again.

As soon as he was out and saw the white sphere shining in the sky, the wolf filled his lung and emitted a long howl, and then started running towards the forest escorted by his friends. They wandered around the thick foliage, enjoying for the first, but not only time, the freedom and company.

…

Lily stroked Arya's head absently: after hours and hours of trying to sleep without succeeding, she had desisted, putting on a think wooden jacked over her long t-shirt and approaching to the window. He had opened it, and her owl, which rested at the top of some wardrobe, had soared towards her to keep her company. The round, white moon shone lonely in the sky, and the girl watched it for a while; it was beautiful. She looked down and sighed.

She wasn't sure if it was the reason of her insomnia, but now that she was awake, the redhead couldn't help thinking about her father. It wasn't fair that he was sick. It wasn't fair that he had to die.

After a while, her thoughts had shifted to Remus and his strange illness. She hadn't seen him come back from the Hospital Wing; he had probably spent the night there. She hoped he was okay.

Lily stood up, but when she was about to close the window and go to bed, a wolf-like howl ripped the silence of the night, and the girl froze in her place with her eyes wide open. She was a smart girl, and it wasn't hard for her to connect the dots. It was a crazy idea but…what if she was right?

Lily carefully closed the window and flew back to her refugee high up in the wardrobe. It would be better to go to sleep and think about in the morning. But, she decided, she wouldn't tell anyone about it, not even if her suspicions turned out to be true.


	24. Chapter 24: Hallowe'en I

_24 up! And still on Fifth year, there's still a long way until the ending, but I'm so anxious that I've already written the story's epilogue. Maybe that'll help me to update more often! I just hope College (I'm starting again on Wednesday) doesn't absorbe my one was going to be longer but decided o divide it in two._

"A _ball_?" Sam exclaimed, watching incredulously the Announcements board. Bree, standing next to her, nodded hapil, while Lily, who was still a bit sleepy, moved her friend aside and stood in front of the board, practically yelling:

"_What_?" But no, Sam hadn't read it wrong: in a ornated green caligraphy, it was announced that on Hallowe'en, instead of the traditional feast, they would be having a ball for the older students (The students who were less than fourteen –read the sing- would have their party at the Common Rooms). But that wasn't the worst part. It was a costume party. Lily stared with hatred at the elegant card with golden rims.

"Has Dumbledore gona _mental_?" Asked Samantha, her eyes still fixed to the board. The redhead started ranting and raving about the Headmaster, dragging herself half-heartedly to one of the armchairs:

"Merlin, what was the need! There's been _years _since they last held a ball at Hogwarts. And as if it wasn't enough, instead of having it on Christmas, he just does it on Hallowe'en! Dumbledore has been watching way too many _muggle _films and he has chosen the worst _cliché _of them all. A costume ball, _Merlin _what a stupid idea!"

Some chuckled distracted her, and when she looked around she found the four Marauders playing Exploding Snap sitting around a table; Potter and Pettigrew were on the sofá, Remus on the floor and Black was sitting on a chair with his back to the fireplace. Lily looked daggers at them.

"It seems someone has got out of bed on the wrong side today." Black commented, swinging on the chair's back legs and dropping a card on the table. "It'll be fun, Evans, stop complaining."

Lily folded her arms and Sam, sitting on the armchair's arm, answered moodily:

"That's 'cause for you it's just another chance to go out on the pull, Black" Sirius smiled; she was partly right.

"Oh, come on Sam, he's right, it'll be fun." Bree said, sitting on the floor at Lily's foot. They have decided to take Sunday free.

"I still don't get why Dumbledore thought about doing this now. I'll talk to Professor McGonagall; she has to make him see sense!" The redhead said in such a desperate tone that made everyone laugh.

"Actually, throwing balls at Hogwarts was quite common years ago," Remus commented, carefully leaving a card on the table. Despite he had just left the Hospital Wing the day before, he looked much better than he used to after hs monthly disappearances, although the other three had scratches on their hands. "They where held during the Yule, but as most of the students weren't here for Christmas, they stopped doing them. But it wasn't Dumbledore's idea to recycle the tradition; apparently, Professor Templesmith insists that Hogwarts isn't Hogwarts without a ball… I guess Dumbledore decided to make him happy; maybe this time he gets the Defense Against the Dark Arts' teacher to stay for more than a year."

"Why do you always know everything?" asked him Black, and James laughed.

"But _why _did it have to be a costume party?" Lily insisted.

"Don't you know Templesmith yet?" Bree and Black asked in unison, laughing.

"Y'know, Evans? I think you'll find something positive in this whole ball thing," James commented casually, playing with the cards he was holding. The redhead looked at him skeptically.

"Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"Ain't that obvious? That you can go with me." Lily rolled her eyes and stood up.

"I think I'll pass, Potter." She said, leaving the Common Room through the portrait.

"Where's she going?" Sam asked.

"Where d'you think?" The brunette answered

Right then, Peter placed a card on the table and the game exploded.

…

Lily closed the portait behind her, sighing. A ball, as if she needed to add that to the mess that her head was lately. She headed slowly towards the stairs; it was still early, Severus wouldn't be there until about half an hour, but the redhead had preferred to leave the Common Room: she wasn't in the mood to stand Potter and company.

On one side, she couldn't stop thinking about her father, who was getting worse at an alarming pace, despite both him and her mother tried to hide it in their letters. Lily knew they didn't want to worry her, but the letters were so excessively cheerful that no one would have bought it.

On the other hand there was Bree: the redhead was quite sure that the affect she felt towards Black was becoming something more than friendship, and that didn't have to happen; Brianna was far too sweet and good to deserve to be hurt that way. She said that both Lily and Sam were delirious, and that the only thing she saw in Sirius was a good friend. And that was true; the boy was an amazing friend, and the girls knew it. Bree loved him and enjoyed his company, and he would never do something to hurt her, on the contrary, he would have been willing to protect her from anything. But there were certain details in the brunette's behaviour that led her friends to notice that she was falling in love, even if she didn't even know it herself, and that was dangerous. Not beause they hated Blac; in fact, he wasn't that bad. Yeah, he was an arrogant prat, but not with Bree. The problem was the way he treated women. And Bree didn't deserve to get her heart broken.

Then there was Remus' issue too. As Lily had supposed, he hasn't appeared the whole day after that night, although they had discharged him sooner than she expected: Saturday night he was already at the Common Room, with an unusual joy. The redhead would have expected him to come back as always; tired, with dark rings under hs eyes, and destroyed. And partly he had, except for his mood. It had been weird that the rest of the Marauders had shown up with scratches in their hands and even in their faces, but Lilydidn't pay much attention to them; what those three did wasn't her business. But Remus… Remus and his strange disease. Every time her thoughts went that way, the girl tried to stop them. She was afraid to go there, because she was afraid to be right. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was, and the more the facts fitted her assumptions. When she realized she was thinking about it, she blocked it. She didn't feel capable of dealing with it right then. And she didn't want to think that her sweet friend had had such a terrible fate, nor that such a hard future was expecting him. Maybe it would be better if she forgot about it for now. Anyway, she wouldn't ever mention it to anyone, not even to her own friends.

And on the top of all of that, even if she didn't want to admit it, was Potter. The truth was that the last month and a half he had been… different. He seemed to be more calm, and he didn't play fool all the time anymore. I mean, sometimes he did, and of course he still played infinite pranks on people, but it looked like he had started to mature. Besides, as weird as it sounded, he didn't seem to be dating other girls anymore. It's not that she was paying attention, Lily said to herself, but it was just impossible not to notice that the only one that still fluttered around anything with a skirt was Black. It had been quite a drastic change in Potter. Besides, lately they had been leaving Severus alone, or at least, that's what she thought.

Yeah, that was it, he was more mature. A little bit, at least. He still asked her out every time he had a chance, of course, but she had realized that it wasn't impossible to have a normal conversation with him, brief as they were. And she had even found herself about to laugh several times at something he said.

And that confused her. And she didn't like it.

Lily heard some voices when she reached the Entrance Hall, and saw two boys leaving the dungeons. One of them was skinny, had black hair and an aquiline nose; the other one was thin, tall, and honestly repulsive. Avery.

The redhead hid behind the staircase; Severus wouldn't want Avery to know they were meeting each other. For her spot, she could perfectly hear everything the boys said; the redhead didn't want to pry into their business, but she would have needed to cover her ears and start to sing not to hear them.

"I don't know when, but soon," Avery was saying with that cruel but soft voice. "The Dark Lord is getting more and more powerful, yes, but for that he needs more followers. As many as he can get." Lily let out a gasp and knew that they had heard her, so she casually left her hideout, pretending she had just arrived and was passing by.

"Were you eavesdropping, mudblood?" Avery spat angrily, taking out his wand. Lily faked surprise and apathy when she answered:

"Don't think you're the center of the Universe, Avery. I was just passing by." She said coldly. Snape seemed really uncomfortable, looking alternatively at both of them nervously.

"Don't talk to me like that, stupid girl;" the Slytherin started tos ay rabidly, but the redhead interrupted him.

"I say whatever I want. And put that wand out, you're not allowed to do magic in the corridors." She said haughtily, pointing at her Prefect badge. Avery laughed.

"How naïve, thinking that a badge could protect you. Keep leaving inside that bubble of yours, mudblood; the day will come when pure-blood wizards like us won't have to stand scum like you. The day when the muggles will finally be where they belong." He spat all of that getting closer and closer to her. Snape semed hesitant.

"And how much muggle blood do you have?" Lily said with disdain, staring at him with disgust.

Severus opened his eyes wide and looked like he was about to throw up, and Avery was so surprisesd he couldn't use his wand, but he hit her with the back of his hand with so much strength that it let her stunned. Before anything else could happen, they heard some noises coming out of the Great Hall.

"Let's go, Severus." The boy hesitated on his place, but ended up following his friend.

Lily stood there for some minutes with tears in her eyes, but mostly out of rage. Not for Avery, but for Severus. She could stand that the other bloody prick yelled as many insults as he wanted, and even that he hit her (though it had actually hurt. He was probably wearing a ring or something, because the redhead could feel her injured cheek throbbing), she would have even hit him back if she had had the chance. But what hurt the ost was that Severus had just stood there, watching. Lily's friends always wondered how she could like someone like him, who hated muggles and every person like her. But she always made excuses for him; that Snape wasn't like the rest of them, that he couldn't defend her in front of other Slytherins,that he was her friend. But this time it was being really hard to find an excuse for his behaviour, and she didn't think she would be able of standing it much longer. She knew Severus would have never let Avery really hurt her; she still remembered that one time in third year when he had stopped Mulciber from attacking her when she ran into him in a corridor. But she couldn't understand how her friend stood that people who humiliated and hated people like her.

When she was reaching the third floor, she heard someone calling her.

"Lily!" She kept walking. "Lily! Lily!"

In the end, the redhead turned around (not without drying her tears first)

"What?" Snape approached to her panting.

"I thought we had agreed to meet." He said.

"Oh. Yeah. I remembered I have some stuff to do. Prefects' Meeting." She lied. Snape seemed to sadden.

"Oh," he said. "Maybe later."

"I don't know, Sev." She answered wearily, and a bit sadly too. Snape looked distressed.

"I'm sorry, Lily" He sounded honest. "I'm sorry about what Avery did to you, but you have to understand me…"

"I do understand you, Sev. I know you would never hurt me, but it's hard…" She answered, mellowing her voice. "It's hard for me that you just stand there without doing anything, but it's even harder to know he's your friend." She didn't say all she thought about Avery and the rest of his lot, and she didn't mention she had heard their conversation. Both of them tried to avoid those thorny topics if it was possible.

"I'm not like him, Lily," Snape said imploringly. "And _you _are my friend. My best friend."

Lily smiled sadly. Severus had suffered so much… she couldn't see him like that. She approached to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're my best friend too, Sev." She said.

On the way to the Common Room, tears flooded the redhead's eyes again, but she didn't shed them. She had forgiven Severus, but she felt exactly like when Avery hit her. If things didn't change, she wouldn't be able of forgiving, and that hurt. She didn't want to lose her friend.

…

Even before that any of them heard her (maybe except Remus and his wolf ear), James knew she was there because of the scent that flooded the place. Lily hadn't been too long doing whatever she was doing. Sam's exclamation seemed to get her out of her thoughts, and when the boy noticed the reason of the scream, he felt the rage coming up his throat like the bile. He wanted to yell. Someone had hurt her! Her right cheek was slightly swollen and it had a small cut that bled a little.

"What the hell happened to your face!?" Sam asked. Six pairs of eyes fixed on her, and Lily seemed disconcerted when she touched eher face and saw her fingers slightly stained with blood.

"Nothing," lied Lily, approaching to them with shining eyes. James guessed that she wanted to run away to her room, but was staying there so that they wouldn't suspect anything.

"Was it Snape?" asked Bree in a whisper. When she heard her, Sirius gave a start, but James stood up without even realizing about it. Remus pulled his robes and made him seat, but none of the girls seemed to notice what they were doing.

"No!"Lily exclaimed angrily. "He would never do something like that!" Everyone appeared to doubt it, so she ended uo saying. "It was Avery. It doesn't matter, it's nothing." James realized he was clenching his fists. He easen them; he was hurting himself.

"Why did he do it?" Remus asked in a quiet tone that hid his fury.

"'Cause when he started talking about the pure-blood wizards' superiority I asked him how much muggle blood he had." Sirius roared with laughter, and Lily smiled a bit.

"You should tell Professor McGonagall." Added Lupin.

"I already did," lied the redhead, but no one was looking at her as closely as to realize it wasn't true. "I'll go wash this," she said pointing at her face and walking away. Her friends followed her.

"I'm gonna kill him." James announced, and none of his friends bothered in discouraging him.

…

At the end, Lily had gotten everyone to forget about the incident (even though she ahdn't suspected that the reason many fifth-year Slytherins could attent to Potions lesson had been an awful and painful rash, courtesy of the Marauders), and the only thing everybody at the school was talking about was the Hallowe'en Ball. Many students had already planned their costumes and had asked their parents to send them over by owl, but many others would use the Hogsmeade visit to buy what they needed.

The Great Hall was almost empty, but in a corner at the Gryffindor's table, Becca and Lily were involved in a really hard-fought chess game, surrounded by their friends, who observed quietly.

"Whatcha doing?" Asked Black, sitting next to Bree, who attentively observed Rebecca's movements.

"Acrobatics, can't you see?" said the blonde, moving a bishop. Lily frowned.

"Right, but why aren't you getting ready to go to Hogsmeade? All the girls are like crazy about their Hallowe'en costumes." James (who had just arrived with his other two friends) asked.

"Whoever wins decides what everyone's wearing," answered Sam, tense: she wanted, no, she _needed_ Lily to win. She didn't trust Becca. "We agreed it would be something muggle, but we couldn't decide what. So after arguing about it, we decided to do t this way; all of us have played, but it was reduced to these two."

The Marauders found it quite fun.

"I hope you win, Evans," said Black, playing with Bree's curls. "But only if you promise you'll make this blonde wear something truly ridiculous. I need a good laugh."

"Well then you're betting against me, Padfoot," said James, standing next to Lily. "I want Moon to win." And approaching to the redhead's ear, barely brushing her neck with his fingers he moved her hair so that she could listen to him better and whispered "I hope she makes you wear something really sexy for our date."

Lily went stiff, and trying to ignore him, moved any piece on the board. Then it was Becca's turn. Checkmate.

"YES!" The blonde shouted, jumping with joy with her fists up in the air. "I won."

"It's not fair!" said Lily, standing up and pushing Potter. "He made me nervous!" Black let out a guffaw and James raised an eyebrow.

"Do I make you nervous, Evans?" he said in a seductive purr.

"Arrrg!" Lily grumbled, walking away with her arms folded. Samantha scowled at Potter.

"You better watch it. I'll painfully kill you whenever I get the chance." She said, standing up and going after the redhead. The quiet tone she used to say it ended up frightening the boy a bit and it made Eli smile.

"Fine, you two are coming with me. Off to Hogsmeade!" Rebecca said cheerfully, taking Brianna and Eli's arm and leaving the Great Hall.

…

"I refuse," said Lily with obstinacy, folding her arms. The costumes had been a surprise until Hallowe'en; as Rebecca couldn't enter to the Gryffindor rooms when it was time to change, she was giving them the dresses that afternoon.

"That wasn't the deal, Lily, and you know it," answered Becca with her arms on her hips. The five of them had met in the Charms classroom, and neither Sam nor Lily had like the costume very much.

"You never said we would have to dye our hair." She replied. Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"It's a spell. Bree and I have already practiced it, it works perfectly fine and it only lasts twelve hours. Why do you have to be so stubborn? We're all doing it, it'll be fun!"

"Well, I accept dying my hair, but I won't wear that." Sam said, pointing almost with fear at the bulk of clothes resting on one of the desks.

"Oh, come on Sam, it'll look great on you." Eli commented from the back of the room, where he was trying on his Hercules costume. Sam blushed.

"Come on, don't complain and say yes already," Bree asked in a weary voice.

"Besides, Lily, you can't complain, your dress doesn't show too much of anything. I searched for one that didn't" Added Becca, with annoyance. The redhead glared at her but ended up accepting.

…

James, sprawled out in the sofa, sighed. Sirius was the only bloke he knew capable of taking as long as a girl to dress up. He, Remus and Peter (who were playing chess) were already at the Common Room, but their friend was still upstairs arranging some last details about his aspect.

They heard some quick steps and a metallic tinkle, but before he could turn around, the portrait closed violently. Immediately after, a flowery scent invaded his nose, and the boy frowned.

"Was it Lily?" he asked, turning around as if the girl was still there.

"No, it was a black-haired girl dressed as a gypsy," answered Wormtail, focused on the game.

Seconds later, they heard steps again and a really tall girl came out of the women's rooms.

"Perks?" asked Potter, surprised. The girl's long, black hair was dyed in a silvery, almost white colour, and one of its locks was decorated with a golden ring. She had also painted some strange blue symbols on her right cheek that matched the strapless bikini she was wearing. It looked like she hadn't finished dressing up, because she was also wearing a pair of jeans that didn't really fit the rest of the outfit.

"What?" She answered inher usual bad mood, but she covered her bare belly with her arm and timidly took her white bangs off her eyes.

"Nothing," said James, shaking his head with a half smile. Perks wasn't as tough and confident as she pretended. "I wasn't sure I had recognized you." The girl snorted.

"How could you, if Remecca and Brianna have managed to dress me like an idiot." She said, moody.

"It looks good on you, showing some skin for a change, Perks," Black commented while walking down the stairs with an elaborate and sexy pirate costume. The girl looked daggers at him.

"Whatever. Have you seen Lily?" She asked, looking at Potter.

"I haven't." He answered, puzzled.

"She was dressed as Esmeralda." She clarified. The four Marauders looked at her with intrigue and she roled her eyes. "From a muggle children's film. The hunchback of Notre-Dame? Esmeralda, the gypsy?"

"Did she dye her hair too?" asked Peter, nodding.

"Yes."

"Then yeah, she has already left." Sam clicked her tongue and started going up the stairs again.

"Where was she going in such a hurry?" Potter asked with curiosity.

"She was running away from a lipstick." Sam grunted without turning around and without stopping.

James smiled.

"Well, shall we go?" Sirius asked, going down the rest of the steps.

"Checkmate," Lupin announced, smiling smugly at Peter. "Let's go."

…

"Hey, Esmeralda!" The Entrance Hall was full of people waiting for their dates, and Lily was having a hard time getting to the Great Hall. When she heard Eli's voice calling her she turned around to find her smiling friend dresses as the greek semigod whom the muggle children loved so much. The boy opened his arms and asked: "Don't I look splendid?" The girl laughed. Actually, he did look amazing; tall as he was, tanned as always, with his huge smile and in that warrior's suit, he would make more than one girl sigh.

"It's not fair. You didn't have to dye your hair." She complained, folding her arms.

"It's not my fault that I look so much like Hercules, sweetheart." He answered his fake arrogance, making her laugh again. "You do look very pretty, Lils." He said honestly, running his eyes over her.

The girl had tied a pink ribbon on her black hair, adorning her arms and ankles with golden bracelets to match the ring on her left ear. She was wearing a cream-coloured shirt that showed her bare shoulders in a really sensual way; a turquoise girdle and a lilac skirt. Over it, she had tied a dark purple shawl on which hanged little coins that tinkled on her hip.

"Thanks," Lily answered, sighing. "If only I wasn't barefoot, this wouldn't be that bad. But don't tell Becca I said that."

"Don't tell me what?" If the Ravenclaw attracted any look dressed just in her school uniform, now noone could take her out off of her. She had dyed her long, blonde mane in a ginger tone, and had combed it to one said, covering one of her cat-like eyes, which she had made up to accent their shape. She had her arms wrapped in long, purple gloves and was wearing a stunning strapless red dress with a heart-shaped cleavage that highlighted her generous bosom and a long slit on one side. Besides, she was wearing really high heels.

"Wow," Lily said when her friend arrived. "You really look like Jessica Rabbit." Becca smiled.

"You look really pretty too, Lils, I'm glad you listened to me."

"Though she ran away from the lipstick," Said Sam, appearing next to Brianna. Eli couldn't stop staring at her without even noticing about it, and both Rebecca and lily burst out laughing non-stop and without explaining the reason.

"I knew princess Kida would go perfectñy with you," said Becca once she could stop laughing. "You look amazing, Sammie." The girl glared at her, but blushed a little. The truth was that she was really uncomfortable on that blue top and that kind of sarong skirt, and in case that wasn't enough, she was barefoot. Definitely more skin than she was used to showing.

"Don't call me Sammie" She spat, folding her arms over her body so that they wouldn't look at her. Her friend ignored her..

"And you Bree, look lovely!"

"You're the perfect Tinkerbell." Praised her Eli once he was out of his trance. Little Bree was wearing her hair – now blonde- in a bun, a simple strapless light green dress with a heart-shaped cleavage, really short and ending points, and a couple of adorable tiny shoes with white pompoms, and ethereal wings on her back.

"There have to be advantages on being so tiny." She said, smiling.

"Well, shall we go in? Becca asked, making her way through the crowd. Her friends followed her, laughing at the looks the girl attracted.

When she had just entered at the Great Hall, Lily felt someone grabbed her wrist and she turned around.

"I knew it was you," the boy said with a huge smile that Lily returned. "Dark hair looks nice on you, it makes your eyes stand out."

"Thank you, Aidan." The girl could feel she blushed. She turned around for a second; her friends had kept walking but Sam had seen what had stopped her, and was making her hand getures to tell her to stay with him. "You look great too. You're a musketeer, right?" she asked, observing the boy's classical outfit. He nodded.

"I lost the other two blokes, but I'm supposed to be Aramis." He said.

"Aramis has always been my favourite musketeer." She .

"And you are a…gypsy?" Lily grimaced.

"Esmeralda, she's from a muggle gil, something we agreed to do with my friends… never mind. I didn't even choose the costume." She said, making a hand gesture. The boy smiled and Lily noticed once again the dimple on his cheek.

"Well, whatever you are, you look stunning. Hey, I didn't see you that much around Hogwarts after that time on the train…" He said, taking her hand and leading her to the dancing floor.

"Yeah, sorry. With my Prefect duties and the O.W.L this year I can't even breathe."

"Don't worry, I get you. The N.E.W.T.S are doing the same to me." He said. The music that sounded has really lively, and after a moment of shyness they both started dancing and chatting as if they had been in touch these last few months.

They danced for a long while and laughed a lot, but there was a moment when they had to stop because neither their feet nor their breaths could take it anymore..

"Would you wait for me here? I'll grab us something to drink." He said leaning close to her so that she could hear him. Lily nodded, leaving the dance floor.

"How are you doing, Casanova?" Said a voice in her ear. The girl turned around giving a start and met Eli's mischievous eyes.

"Pillock," said Lily lovingly, smiling at the boy. "Don't talk aout Casanovas; I've seen more than a few girls who won't stop ogling at you."

"Yeah, right." Eli said, crossing his eyes and sticking his tongue out. Lily laughed.

"You should tell her." She said, getting serious. The boy looked at her, apparently disconcerted.

"What are you talking 'bout?" Lily narrowed her eyes.

"You know." Eli looked at her with his eyes wide open and with fake innocence, and our gypsy couldn't help laughing. The boy put his arm around her shoulders, hugging her and kissing her on the cheek.

"And who are you?" The seriousness in Aidan's voice startled both of them. Eli let Lily go, raising his palms in the air

"I'm not touching." He joked, but the Hufflepuff didn't laugh.

"He's Eli, one of my friends." Said Lily, slightly frowning.

"Oh,I see." The boy answered, relaxing only a little. "Here you go," he added, giving the redhead a cup and deliberately ignoring the Ravenclaw, who looked at Lily raising his eyebrows and flew out of there.

Aidan answered dryly to everything Lily said for a while, but he ended up forgetting about it and went on being the same nice boy as always.

"Would you like to go outside for a while=" He said when a quieter music begun to sound. Lily nodded and let him led her to the grounds.

The sky was full of stars, and there was a slight breeze but it wasn't cold. They walked in silence for a while, until Aidan stopped and, playing with Lily's hand, asked her in a tone that tried to be casual:

"Sooo… this bloke, Eli…" The girl laughed.

"He's just a friend. Really." Aidan smiled, relieved, and Lily felt like kissing that dimple.

"You have very pretty eyes, Lily," he said, and she got lost into his dark eyes. As he said so, he placed his hands on the redhead's (not so redhead) waist and carefully made her come closer to him. "I've always liked them." He whispered, raising one had and taking her face. Lily got even more close to him and, with her hands on his chest, waited for the kiss.

…

**Answer to reviews:**

**Potterwatch:** I'm really super glad you liked it that much! I hope I won't disappoint you! Thank you for reading and for the review!

**bhuvanavi:** Sorry for that mistake! I already sent you a PM and edited the chapter, but thanks for pointing that out! And for reading, too!


	25. Chapter 25: Hallowe'en II

_25! Here you go with part II! There's not much to say, just enjoy! Oh! Yeah! I should explain a little thing: During my writing blockage, I ignored something that I kind of regretted later on: Every Disney movie I mention for the girls' costumes didn't exist back then in the Marauders' Era. After considering writing the chapter again, or editing it and replace the costumes with new ones or with the version of the classical tales or legends they came from, I decided to leave it like I first wrote it. Take it as some kind of 'tribute' to Disney that I added even though it breaks a little with the canon. You can always read the chapter iamgining those dresses differently :) (There are a lto of famous witches from the chocolate frog cards that would replace the costumes well, or even some muggle characters) Well, no more talking, here you go:_

"I'm bored," Said Sirius, leaning against a wall next to the table. James ignored him; he was too busy watching Lily laugh with that tosser of Davis.

As soon as the boy had seen her enter to the Great Hall, she had taken his breath away. The only thing James could think about was to go and caress those bare shoulders; to hold her waist and kiss her passionately; to get lost into those huge, green eyes. But it had all went away the moment the Hufflepuff had take her hand and led her to the dance floor.

"We already lost him," said Peter, really happy in his Frankenstein costume. Honestly, he was the least terrifying monster anyone had ever seen. "Evans arrived more than half an hour ago and Prongs seems unable of taking his eyes off her."

"Come on, Prongs, we're supposed to behere to have fun," complained Sirius, patting his shoulder. "It'd be a waste that I just stay standing here when there are so many babes dying for a piece of this." He said, making a geture that included his whole body. He had put a lot of effort into the costume of what he called a 'sexy pirate', but he had refused to use an eyepatch; he said it lacked 'glamour'. The truth was that the result was fantastic; he looked like one of those young pirates from teenage films, and his silky black hair, along with his seductive smile and mischievous grey eyes gave the costume the touch it needed.

Remus rolles his eyes.

"You go," said James, making a hand gesture without looking away from the couple. Sirius snorted, folding his arms.

"What's up, Black, you couldn't get anything to hook up with?" Samantha asked sardonically, sitting on a chair next to the table and taking a sandwich.

"Marauders go to balls without dates, perks, they don't want tie themselves toa girl the whole night." Sirius answered haughtily. Sam rolled her eyes.

"You disgust me, Black." Said Becca, arriving right to hear that comment.

"D'you think it's appropriate come dressed as a whore, Moon?" He answered, earning himself a slap.

"And d'you think it's appropriate to come dressed as a brainless womanizer? Oh, wait, it's not a costume, sorry." She replied, raising her eyebrows. Remus laughed.

"Well, I think you look good, Sirius," said Bree, who had just arrived with Eli The dark-haired boy turned around with a smile and his eyes opened wide at the sight of his friend.

"Blimey, Bree! You're gorgeous!" He exclaimed with surprise. And she was, in that tiny green dress and with those huge blue eyes. She smiled and said:

"Thanks," Sirius started playing with a blond curl that fell on her forehead, making it jump like a spring.

"You having fun?" he asked. Bree shrugged her shoulders.

"Sort of."

"Well, James' spoiling all the fun here," he answered, making a gesture with his head towards his friend, who was on his toe tips trying to see through the crowd, sighing frustrated.

"Be right back," he said, making his way through the people. Everyone quietly watched him go away.

"Guess he won't be back," Sirius sighed. "I'm gonna go look for a foxy fox who passed by a while ago in a really tight jumpsuit. See ya later." He said, winking and walking away.

"Like I said, a brainless womanizer." Rebecca commented.

"Well, we should try to have some fun as well," said Eli, watching the boy leave. He turned his head and looked at Sam raising his eyebrows. "Wanna dance?" Th girl hesitated, grimacing. "Or maybe go make fun of the lame attempts of flirting of all those desperate princesses?" Sam laughed and stood up, following Eli.

Bree looked at them with a smile, and then out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Lupin, Becca and Pettigrew.

"Come on, Peter," she said, pulling his arm to make him stand up. "Let's dance."

"Seems it's just the two of us," Becca commented, flopping down next to Remus. He nodded.

"Quidditch player, huh?" she asked, observing the lycanthropes clothes. James had lent him his old robes and they had changed the letters so that they would read 'Lupin' instead of 'Potter. "No monsters, vampires or werewolves?" A sad and enigmatic smile flickered across his lips.

"I'm not really into all that monsters stuff," he said, shrugging. "Besides, I'm terrible at scaring people." Rebecca laughed, shaking her hair like she always did.

"I do believe you can be scary if you set that aim, Moony." She said in a low voice,as if she was telling him a secret. "Well, won't you say anything about how I look?" she claimed, pretending indignation.

"Oh, I'm sure you received enough compliments already." He answered, unable to contain his smie. He loved the sassiness and carefreeness of that intriguing Ravenclaw.

"And you won't be a nice bloke and tell me what you think?" Both the girl and Lupin knew she looked dazzling, but instead of running his eyes over her, Remus fixed his honey eyes on hers.

"I think you have amazing eyes." He answered honestly. Rebecca burst out laughing, shaking her head. She was expecting anything but that; her eyes weren't usually what the boys paid attention to.

"You're a special boy, Remus Lupin." She just said. They were quiet for a while, their eyes on the dancing floor, but it wasn't an awkward silence at all. They felt at ease with each other. Lupin was a quiet person, and Becca, despite her reputation as a loud chatterbox, enjoyed his silent company.

"Are you gonna tell me where all those scratchs come from?" she asked, carefully observing his profile. The boy gave a start; Madame Pomfrey did a great job healing them, he didn't think they were so visible. When Lupin didn't open his mouth, she said: "I guess that's gonna be another secret I'll have to figure out about you." Oddly, despite that statement disturbed him, it didn't make him feel uncomfortable.

"Hoow are you doing with it?" he asked with curiosity and a smile.

"Not that well. You don't like monsters, you like my eyes, and you don't think you deserve to be a prefect." The boy blushed first, and then startled. He didn't remember telling her anything about that. He looked at her questioningly.

"I just know." She answered, winking.

Right then, Peter appeared.

"Sirius needs us" he said, panting. "He said something about a trick or something like that, he didn't explain aything else." Remus nodded and stood up, willing to follow his friend. He turned around to say goodbye to Becca, and found her smiling in a perturbing way.

"See ya later, Moony" she said.

…

James made his way through the crowd, trying not to lose sight of the couple. It turned out to be difficult, as loads of girls, even older than him, tried to flirt with him, asking for dances or flattering his costume (probably because it consisted in a really torn shirt that showed a considerable amount of muscled chest). Finally, he had been able of getting rid of that pretty fourth-year Ravenclaw who lived up to her Sacharissa Tugwood costume (she was the first witch to create and use beauty potions), and had found a place near one of the tables where he wasn't too exposed, but could see everything perfectly.

They were laughing and dancing, and now Davis had put a hand on her delicate shoulder, getting closer to whisper something to her ear. Lily nodded and headed where he was, forcing him to hide behind a boy who was wearing a flamboyant metallic device on his head (He was dressed as Edgar Strougler, famous inventor of magical devices like the Sneakoscope).

The boy used the occasion to observe her: she was so pretty. Her adorable freckles were barely visible, and her long un-made up eyelashes guarded those two beautiful emeralds she had for eyes. Her hair fell gracefully, and even though James missed its dark red colour, the truth was that she didn't look bad at all with black hair. Actually, even bald she would still be gorgeous. The boy felt he was blushing when Lily moistened her lips with her tongue; she seemed to be hot because of all the dancing. James fixed his eyes on the girl's bare neck and shoulders; areas that were usually covered and he had to guess through the clothes. When he noticed that, indeed, the almost invisible freckles covered her shoulders and cleavage, James feared for his mental health. That woman was going to drive him crazy. He thought about approaching to talk to her, but right then some bloke appeared behind her and they started talking. He was dressed as… Andros the Invincible? Yeah, he looked like Andros; luckily Sirius had ended up deciding to dress up as something muggle, to be 'original'; he wouldn't have liked to see someone with the same costume. It didn't take him long to recognize him: Rivers. Oddly enough, James had never felt jealous of Rivers despite the boy spent so much time with his redhead. Well, actually, it was too obvious that the boy was crazy about Perks, though she probably didn't notice.

And there was the wanker again. Davis seemed willing to rip the Ravenclaw's head off. Ha, Lily wouldn't like that the boy glared at her friend.

Finally, Rivers had left, and the Hufflepuff seemed to be in a sulk. When James was about to celebrate that, without wanting to, the Ravenclaw had fucked up their date, the boy took Lily's hand and started walking in the opossite direction. Where did he think he was goin!? Desperately, James rushed to follow them, pushing carelessly anyone who stood in his way. Where were they heading? If only that boy dressed as Ulric the Oddball moved his gigantic head! The jellyfish hat didn't let him see… And they were gone! Anxiously searching, the boy reminded himself under his breath to make that stupid map; it would be much easier to find people.

What if they had gone to…the grounds? They had to take them out of there!

Pushing with too much strenght a bony, long-haired seventh-year (who turned out to be the drummer of 'Guinevere's Knights' -and brother of the Singer, Lancelot Knight- and would come at him the next day, complaining about his broken wrist), James had managed to leave the Castle and as soon as he saw the couple, he approached to them. They didn't seem to be talking, but they were holding hands and it was obvious that if Davis was a normal man would make a move on Lily that night. And James couldn't let that happen. He needed the Marauders.

As if he was escaping from a herd of enraged centaurs, James turned around to go back to the Castle, but before entering, he saw a blonde, fit girl leaning against the wall, passionately snogging a pirate.

"Sirius, I need you." Called him James without approaching. Immediately, the boy let the girl go (who didn't seem that happy about it), an without even asking for a reason, followed his friend, winking goodbye at his date. "Call the other, Davis and Lily, in the grounds."

"Be right back," said Sirius, nodding once and disappearing into the castle at a quick pace.

James went back to his place; the couple was still walking but he couldn't hear if they were talking or not. Sirius needed to hurry up! The couple stopped walking and Davis started playing with Lily's fingers. _James' _fingers. He could weakly hear her laughter, and he knew what was about to happen. But before he could do aything by himself, Sirius patted his back, and by only whispering three words, told him what to do.

Lily placed her hands on the Hufflepuff's chest and he leant to kiss her, but their lips barely brushed, cause something wrapped them and forced them to separate.

Lily fell on her bum, her waist wrapped in loads of toilet paper and her head covered in bright confeti. Aidan had fell on his back instead, completely wrapped in paper and with a strange, fluorescent paint all over him instead of the confetti. They seemed completely taken aback, until they heard some laughter coming out of the bushed, and Lily, enraged, immediately knew who they were, but before she thought about lighting the bush on fire, the marauders left their hiding spot. Remus looked really uncomfortable, but the other three roared with laughter. Lily looked at Aidan out of the corner of her eye and realized how mad he was. And rightly so.

"Trick or treat?" said Black once he had calmed down a bit, and Lily felt like strangling him.

"Technically, you asked that before you play the trick, Padfoot" Potter said, frowning as if he was defending Lily and Aidan. Black faked surprise.

"Really? Oh, I just still don't get those American customs*…" And the burst out laughing again. That group of…of…of immature, brainless brats!

And Aidan was boiling with anger too, looking daggers at Potter (for some reason, he was only mad at him). He instantly took out his wand, and so did the other four boys.

"Stop!" Yelled Lily, furious. "You lot of immature arseholes, put your bloody wands down right now if you don't want me to take all of the points from Gryffindor!" The boys did as she said, but Aidan didn't. "Come on, Aidan, you too" The boy ignored her and raised his wand, and Lily angrily forced him top ut his arm down.

"Leave them, Aidan." She said roughly. The Hufflepuff put his wand away, but was visibly irritated.

"Look Lily, I fancy you a lot, but I'm in no mood for this childish garbage. Do whatever you want with your friends, we'll talk later." And he left seething. Lily's eyes followed him, scowling, and when she couldn't see him anymore, she carefully turned to the four boys. Remus was visibly sorry, and Pettigrew seemed terrified at the prefect's enraged look. Black and Potter just smiled smugly.

"I'd be thanfull if you leave me alone with Potter." She said quietly. They all seemed puzzled, but after James nodded, they headed to the castle. Lily stared at Potter for a while, and judging by the sparks on her eyes, the boy knew she would tell him off. He deserved it, but it had been worh it. But instead of yelling she said in a quiet voice:

"Whom are you dressed as? A Quidditch player who gave his life for catching a Snitch and ended up shattered?" James laughed: he was wearing a torn shirt and trousers, and he had made-up bruises, burnts and scratchs on his face and body. Besides (a detail Lily hadn't noticed), he had broken shackles on his wrists.

"No; I thought abou dressing as some Quidditch player, but as I am already a really well-known one…" Ok, by Lily's scowl, James realized he wasn't on the right track. "But I went for Sacha Beklea*, a dragon keeper who fought against cruelty. He tied himself to a post right in the middle of a dragons' training centre to protest against the taming by hurting them with hot swords... He survived the burns for several days , and ironically died at St Mungo's because of a strange disease… Some people believe he was murdered; one of the healers was the nephew of the owner of a training centre who wasn't very happy about Beklea…" James realized that even though the girl was listening, she had used the time to calm down. She had probably done so to contain her pyromaniac impulses towards him. How nice, his redhead worried about him.

They stood in silence for a while, and when Lily looked up, Potter didn't see anger in her eyes, but something that looked a lot like disappointment.

"Stop screwing up my life, Potter," she said wearily, shaking the confeti from her hair and taking the toilet paper off her waist. "Grow up, already."

And she left, leaving a perplex and slightly regretful James standing alone in the middle of the mess.

…

*According to Wikipedia, the "Trick or Treat" tradition originated in the US and was very little known in the UK until the '80s (a custom that wasn't very welcome by the British at first). Well, the story is taking place in 1975, so I'm guessing the custom already existed in the UK but wasn't very known, and that's why Sirius says this.

** Even though all of the wizards and witches I mention as costumes did exist, I made up Sacha. The idea is quite bad, but I was tired when I finished this sso I just made it up. (I also made up the band 'Guinevere's Knights' and its members Lancelot Knight and his brother)

Oh! And by the way, I didn't make a mistake with Eli: he was dressed as Hercules, but James had no idea about muggle movies, so he thinks he's dressed as a greek wizard called Andros. If you google him, you'll find him ;)

**Answers to reviews:**

**Potterwatch2710**: Thank you! And thanks for reading and reviewing :D I wanted to describe James' reaction as well, but it didn't fit with the plotline I had in mind. However, you got to see him observing her! I hope you liked that!

**Potterheadforeves:** Oh, I know, everyone thinks this is a songfic. I think I should put in the summary that it is not. The truth is that I thought about changing the title many, many times, but I always end up leaving it. The thing is that you have to name the story at the beginning to upload it, and as I'm used to writing oneshots, I'm used to choosing the name when the whole thing is done. But well, when I had to decide the title, I remembered this phrase. Why? Cause we don't have a phrase like that one in Spanish, and I didn't know it. I knew what 'you belong **to **me' meant, but I had never heard 'you belong **with **me' before. When I looked it up and found out the meaning, I loved it. It's more romantic, deeper than saying that you belong to someone, or even that two people are meant for each other. I fell in love with the expression, and named the original story 'You belong with me', even if it was written in Spanish. I wish we had a phrase like that. Oops, sorry for the rambling! In person I'm really quiet, and writing I'm a chatterbox. Sorry. Continuing with you review: Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that compliments!

I'm SUPER happy that you found it realistic, interesting and reasonably canon; those are goals very important to me, and I'm always unsure if I'm doing it right. And the fact that you found it well written makes me so happy too! I'm never confident about it, I have to do a lot of research cause I'm not familiar with all the idioms and stuff, and my grammar fails some times. I should get a beta reader, cause while translating, apart from those mistakes, I make a lot of typo mistakes… Don't worry about the tips, and thank you for that one! You don't know how happy your comment made me :D Thank you!


	26. Chapter 26: Something in my heart

_SORRY! This was supposed to be up yesterday but my pc broke and I had some trouble… Luckily someone lend me this one and I had saved the file in my pendrive._

_26! It took me a little longer; I thought I wouldn't be able to upload it soon cause my Economical History teacher is insane and has given us a huge bunch of things t oread. But I decided to take a break and write this; it isn't as good as it could be, but I'm pretty tired… I uploaded it anyways cause if I don't upload now, what will happen when my exams begin? Well, here you go; trying to hurry things a little bit:_

Even if he wasn't in a hurry, Sirius went down the stairs two steps at a time, as it was usual in him. No one who observed that carefree and (to be honest) arrogant boy could imagine all he had been through, and all he had still to go through at his parents' house. You saw him passing by and you could admire his looks, envy his intelligence, hate his arrogance or laugh at his personality; but not a single person (except for his friends) advanced deep enough into his grey eyes and soul to see that actually, his life wasn't that happy. The disowned Black, the boy without a family because he had rebelled against something that was wrong.

The dark-haired boy spotted a curly mane peeping out the sofa and he smiled without even noticing, approaching to her and covering her eyes with his hands. The girl placed her own tiny hand on his and smiled.

"Hi, Sirius." The boy uncovered her eyes and went round the sofa, flopping down next to her.

"How did y'know it was me?" he asked, taking his shoes off wihout using his hands and making himself comfortable. Bree left the gigantic book aside and shrugged her shoulders.

"Your smell, I guess." She answered. Sirius seemed outraged and Brianna burst out laughing.

"Because of my _smell?_ Do I stink or something?" He said, folding his arms. The girl shook her head, rolling his eyes at Sirius' expression.

"Everyone has their own scent. I just recognized yours, that's all. Don't worry; you won't frighten away whoever you were planning to get off with." She answered, tucking a curl behind her ear. It jumped out of its place and Sirius stretched it, straightening it, but when he let it go, it comically bounced back.

"And what do I smell like?" The boy asked. She seemed to think about it.

"I don't know… it's not easy to describe it. Like… like breeze, like a forest… Like outside." Immediately after saying so, she blushed. Sirius smiled when he noticed it, but he made no comments about it; despite they knew each other so well, his friend got ashamed and blushed because of the tiniest, most trivial details, fact that the marauder found adorable.

"Then, I smell like… freedom?" He asked. Brianna gave a hint of a hald smile.

"Exactly." The boy liked to hear it, because that was how he was. Everything in him yelled freedom; Sirius would never be able to stand being locked. Bree couldn't understand how had the boy beared being at his parents' place without exploding… it was probably because he spent most of the time with James and the rest, and very little at Grimmauld Place. That relaxed Brianna; any kind of prison, even in his own house, could easily destroy her friend.

"How are things?" Sirius asked, placing his head on Bree's lap, who got a little nervous; even if he hugged her all the time, he had never lied down on her legs, and for some reason, that made her feel awkward. 'I'm so silly', she told herself, just as she did every time she felt she was blushing when she was with him. But that was just how Bree was; even with her girl friends and with Eli she felt uncomfortable with certain topics or comments.

"Okay, I guess. Everyone's acting weird since Hallowe'en, but there hasn't been much time to chat about it lately, with all the homework and stuff. That, and the fact that the only one willing to talk is Becca; Lily, Sam and Eli ar even quieter than me when it comes to their feelings." Sirius nodded and stayed silent for a while.

"I know that probably what we did ended up screwing everything up with James and her…" He left the last word hanging. He hadn't talked to Bree about it yet: they had seen each other very little since the ball. On one side, because both her and his friends appeared to had had quite a busy night at the ball (and they needed advice and attention the days after that), and on the other side, because it was true that they had loads of stuff to do. Of course, he didn't do half of it, and the other half was a piece of cake, but in general, the atmosphere at the castle was a chaos, at least for the older students.

"Yeah, actually, you it did, but it was bound to happen. I already told James some months ago that he would have a hard time trying to change." Sirius sighed, staring at the roof.

"I just wish it was easier. I don't know what to do to help him." Bree smiled; if other people knew that side of Sirius, 'arrogant' wouldn't be the first word they would use to describe his personality anymore. Her smiled turned sad as she asked:

"And how are _you?" _Still staring at the roof, the boy shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine." Bree sighed; the boy knew why she was asking him that, but he always did the same thing when she wanted to talk about it.

"I mean how're you with your brother."

"With James? Fantastic." Brianna sighed with frustration, and Sirius couldn't help but smiling.

"You know what I mean." She said, and now it was the boy's turn to sigh.

"He's not my brother anymore." He answered harshly, but Bree knew that there was also sorrow hidden in his voice. Impulsively, the girl placed her hand on the boy's forehead, softly stroking the locks of hair that fell over it. Sirius closed his eyes.

"Don't say that…" whispered Brianna, but the boy shook his head without opening his eyes.

"You don't get it, Bree. I'm not saying it because I can't stand what he has become, nor because partly I feel it's my fault, because I couldn't avoid it. And it's not because I lost him. I say it 'cause it's true; he is not my brother anymore. I'm not a Black anymore. And to tell you the truth, I'm glad." The bitterness his words oozed saddened the girl; she wished there's something she could do for him. The boy sat up and smiled, giving her a quick kiss on the nose.

"Cheer up, Nana," he said, winking. "The Gryffindor team will need pretty cheerleaders like yourself to help them win." He managed to steal a smile from her. "I still don't get why don't you try out for the team. You're awesome! Next year we'll lose a couple of good chasers, that's your chance."

Bree wrinkled her nose: she hated to be in the spotlight, and that was unavoidably one of Quidditch's consequences.

"You could be in the team too; you fly quite well." She replied. Sirius grimaced.

"I'm not _that _good," he said. Bree was the obly person (besides the Marauders) to whom he would admit something like that, leaving all his haughtiness aside. "I get by, but besides, d'you really think I'd keep enough discipline to stand all those trainings and stuff?" Bree laughed and nodded.

"You're right."

"Promise me you'll try out someday." The boy asked.

"Only if you promise to draw me someday." She knew she had won: Sirius showed her his drawings but he would never agree to draw her; he didn't even accept to draw the marauders when they had asked him to.

The boy gave her a one-sided smile and tucked his hands in his pockets.

"Actally, I have already drawn you." He admitted. Right then, Lupin and Pettigrew went down the stairs, and Sirius winked at her goodbye before disappearing through the portrait, leaving her really blushed and surprised

…

Sam rushed down the stairs, tucking an arm into the sleeve while she ran; she had gotten distracted and now she was running late; in less than five minutes she was supposed to be in the dressing rooms to hear Bailey's little speech.

"Hey!" they called her from the Great Hall's door when she was about to reach the exit. The girl turned around and smiled when she saw Eli walking towards her and waving a red and gold flag. The boy smiled back. "Did you oversleep?" Sam blushed; her rober were twisted and her dark hair was tied in a sloppy ponytail, with loose locks all over.

"No, but I'm running late anyway," she said, trying to adjust her clothes with the broom in her hand. Eli motioned her to approach to him.

"Come'ere, I'll do something with yout hair, it would be uncomfortabe to have it all over your face when you have to throw that quaffle." The girl did as he said, walking towards him and sitting on one of the steps. Her friend sat behind her and undid her ponytail, braiding her long, dark hair with agile fingers. He softly brushed her neck's white skin and she felt it burn at the touch, but the boy didn't seem to notice. When he was done, he stood up and held his hand out at her to help her do the same.

"Thanks." She said. Eli took the bangs out of her face, smiling sideways.

"Good luck. Go crash those snakes." Sam nodded and rushed away. The Ravenclaw watched her go, standing there with a lost gaze and an absentminded smile.

"That's sabotage, Rivers." The boy gave a start and turned around: the one who had spoken was Black, who was accompanied by Pettigrew and Lupin.

"And how's so?" he asked, frowning puzzled.

"Distracting one of the best chasers in the team, you know Gryffindor's the best and want us to lose so that Ravenclaw has a better chance of winning the cuo, huh?" By his tpne, Eli knew he was joking, but he pretended not to understand what he was saying.

"I have no idea of what you're talking about, Black." He said, smiling with his eyebrows rose. Right then, Becca, Lily and Bree were leaving the Great Hall.

"Of course you do. What did you do, give her a good luck kiss?" the blonde asked, moving her brows up and down suggestively. Eli rolled his eyes.

"I just _wished her _good luck." He answered, turning around and heading to the grounds, followed by the other six.

"She better not have her hair in a braid, or I'll now it was you." Lily replied, catching him up and puting her arm around his shoulders with some difficulty: he was getting taller and taller!

The delegation sat in the bleachers swarming with students, most of which were wearing Gryffindor's colours; no one wanted Slytherin to win. They managed to get great places close to the pitch with some sexy looks from Sirius and seductive eyelash fluttering from Rebecca, that made a group of girls and a group of boys move some seats to leave them six seats in a row.

"Look at them, selling their bodies for a good spot," Lily commented with dramatism, making Lupin and Pettigrew laugh and earning a flag hit on her head from Black.

The atmosphere of anxiety and fervour quickluy infected the group, who clapped and cheered louder than anyone when seven figures wrapped in scarlet appeared on the pitch.

As soon as the game begun, Sirius transformed.

"I think he's kinda scaring me," Becca whispered at Lupin's ear when Black started yelling and swearing while Bree tried to stop him from jumping off the bleachers. "Are you one hundred per cent positive about his mental health?" Remus laughed.

"D'you find him saner the rest of the time?" It was the Ravenclaw's turn to laugh.

"You're right," she said. "And actually, Eli isn't acting as sane either…"

Her friend, as anxious as Black, jumped on his seat every time Gryffindor lost the quaffle or a bludger grzed Sam, yelling energetically whenever she scored.

The match was quite hard-fought, because even though the lions' team was excellent, they had to admit the Slytherins weren't bad at all; but the most stressfull moment (even more than when later the snitch appeared right above the serpents' seeker's head) was when one of the gigantic apes that was a Slytherin beater threw with all his might the bludger at Potter (who was crossing the pitch at an impressive speed with the quaffle in his hand). The heavy metallic ball collided against the chaser's side, who was thrown against the bleachers, quaffle and broom included. All the spectatoes gasped in unison when James' body crashed against stand provoking a sharp noise, but to everyone's surprise the boy quickly recovered, doing an impressive maneuver to avoid falling and throwing the red ball at Sam, who had flied towards him to help him.

The public's cheers were deafening, and James used the time it took his teammate to score to overfly the pitch with his arms in the air, enjoying as always everyone's admiration.

Once the momento had passed, everyone relaxed, especially the marauders, who had made a great effort not to rush to help their friend.

And they hadn't been the only ones with that instinct: next to them, with her hands on her mouth, stood Lily, still tense. Only then she realized she had stood up, and she barely remembered yelling. It was normal; Bree had screamed too, but what she couldn't understand was why she was feeling so anguished. She sat on her seat again with her eyes fixed on the pitch, but she wasn't able of concentrating in the match; only later she would know about Gryffindor's victory, when the players were already safe and sound on the ground.

… …

Lily snorted with irritation, walking towards the owlery at a quick pace and with a big scowl; running into Potter on her way there hadn't contributed to improve her mood. The last few months, the boy0s behavior was pretty much like a weathervane; some days he showed clear signs of maturity, and some others (like today) he behaved like an arrogant prick, especially when the redhead was around. What the hell was wrong with him? That prat had to get himself checked by a doctor, a healer, a psychiatrist or whatever; he had to have some sort of mental or personality disorder.

The girl had to admit that, deep inside, she had believed Potter was changing; that was why she had got so dissappointed during the Hallowe'en ball. But, why had she cared? She didn't give a fuck if Potter grew up or not; it would be better if he did, 'cause he would quit being a pain in the arse, but… disappointment? Why had she felt that? And now that changeable behaviour was driving her mental, bute ven more realizing that she thought so much about it. If there was something she certainly didn't think about was the way she had felt about a month ago, when he had been hit by that bludger. And when I say she didn't think about it, I mean that it didn't leave her mind, even if she tried to lie to herself. She didn't even understand what had she been thinking when it had happened, but what she did remember very well was the feel of anguish that had overwhelmed her. Stupid Potter, he wouldn't leave her alone even in her own thoughts.

Definitely, running into him at the Hospital Wing's door hadn't been good for her mood. And if to it, we add the exams, Aidan, Remus and her father, we might have an idea of what the redhead's mind was right then. She had been avoiding Aidan since the ball; the truth is that his behavior that night had really bothered her. First with Eli, and then with herself. She understood the jealousy, but it had been excessive and rude. And then it was okay if he was mad at the marauders, she was too, but it hadn't been chivalrous at all to leave her there and go away angrily. The Hufflepuff might be a really sweet bloke and a nice person, but the other aspects of his personality Lily was getting to know mitigated her desire of kissing his dimples. And we better not start with the kissing stuff, because thanks to Potter and his crew, it seemed like the redhead would have forever the title of "never-been-kissed".

And now Remus had commented her that he would go to the Hospital Wing 'cause he was feeling sick _again. _There's not much tos ay about the thoughts that darkened Lily's mind that days of the month.

And as if it wasn't enough, she had received a letter from her parents; they would both spent Christmas Eve at her father's sister house, a woman she didn't even know and lived somewhere in North Ireland (That wasn't a good sign; it meant her father was not okay and wanted to see that part of his family one last time). They thought it was better if they travelled alone; the trip was a bit expensive and neither Lily nor Petunia would enjoy very much spending a week at a house full of old people; so Tuney had accepted the invitation of one of her friends and was going somewhere her sister didn't remember. That meant the redhead would be spending Christmas at Hogwarts… At least Bree and Sam where staying too.

She sent the letter telling his parents what she had decided to do and turned around to go to her Common Room, but when she did so, she gave a start.

"Sev!" she exclaimed, smiling once the surprise was over. "I didn't hear you arrive."

"I thought I had seen you heading over here and wanted to say hi," he said with his peculiar voice, "Getting ready to go home next week?" She shook her head, taking her friend's arm and walking away from the owlery with him.

"I'm staying here for Christmas," she said, and her friend frowned. "Mum and dad are travelling and Tuney is going somewhere, so I've decided to stay here. You're staying too, right?" She knew he was; Severus used every chance he had to stay away from his house.

"Yeah, as always," he answered, staring at her with his inescrutable eyes. Lily nodded and sweetly squeezed his arm, making him smile too. "Shall I walk you to your Common Room?"

"Sure, but I wanted to pass by the Hospital Wing first, Remus is supposed to be there." Snape stopped walking and grimaced, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Come on, you can't hate Remus that much too, Sev." The boy said nothing for a while and they kept walking, until he finally blurted out:

"Have you noticed that the last two months the four of them had mysteriously dissapeared for a day or two?" Lily gave a start; she had noticed, but she didn't think anyone else had. "I bet today and tomorrow we won't be seeing hide nor hair of them. And Lupin has always disappeared like that. There's something weird in that bloke."

Lily felt as if something heavy fell into her stomach: she wasn't the only one who had noticed that about Remus. However, she would definitely not share her theory with her friend, even less now that, when she checked her calendar, she had found a perfect blue circle (indicating the moon cycle) right next to this day. But Severus was too busy taking about it to notice his friend's sick expression.

"Every month," he repeated like he was hypnotized.

When they were reaching the Hospital Wing, Severus noticed something glued to his friend's rucksack and took it angrily. Lily stared at him with surprised and the boy gave her the crumpled piece of parchment. On it, it could be read: "I'm unavoidably and irrevocably in love with James Potter." Lily's anger was visible in her face.

"Bloody moroon" she hissed, tearing the parchment into pieces,forgetting about Remus and insulting Potter all the way to the Common Room next to a really happy Severus.

…

"Meeeery Christmaaaas!" Sam yelled, leaping on her and jumping up and down the bed with excitement: she adored Christmas. "Come ooon, Lily, uuup, it's Christmas day!" Lily smiled; that time of the year took the girl's inner child. A sharp knock followed by a moan made the redhead think that Sam, who used to forgot how tall she was, had bumped her head. Lily couldn't help laughing when she saw her sitting on her bed with a hand on her head and the widest smile.

"The presents!" Bree exclaimed from her bed, which made the redhead suddenly and unvoluntarily sit up and drag herself to the foot of the bed. Satisfied, Sam went back to hers to open her own gifts.

Lily opened the packages with excitement, thanking Bree and Sam their respective presents and making a mental note to do the same thing with her parents, Eli and Becca. She was really happy when she opened Remus' gift: it was the book she had been looking for! And the beautiful blue quill Severus had sent her was going to come in Handy. She would have to thank them both as well.

When she was about to check what her friends had received, she saw a little package she hadn't noticed before; who might have send it? She took it and gave a start when she read the tag: James Potter. She hesitated a bit before opening it; what if it was some kind of prank? But she ended up doing it anyway, turning monochromatic when she saw the content and read the note: _'I've asked Sirius to draw you for me, but he wouldn't do it. As you can see, my attempts weren't really successful_ - Lily let out a guffaw when she realized that the strange shape next to the message has supposed to be her. Potter was really good at everything but drawing was certainly not one of his various skills. –_ so I decided to give you something different, but that's still you. A lily for my Lily. James.' Under the note, inside a gorgeous little box, there was a hair slide in the shape of a beautiful white lily that emitted a slight silvery gleam. She looked up wishing that her friends hadn't noticed her blush, but it would have been hard to tell which one of them was redder. They stared at each other and burst out laughing_.

"You first. "They all said in unison, laughing again. Finally, the redhead was the first to admit it.

"Potter." She said. Bree squealed excitedly and jumped out of her bed to see Lily's present, letting out an admired "ooooh" when she saw it and starting to say romantic nonsense. Sam approached too and shrugged her shoulders:

"Kind of corny, but pretty. Good for Potter." Lily blushed even more: she wasn't sure about how she felt about the present.

"And what did Eli give you?" she asked raising her eyebrows and looking at Sam.

"Who said it was Eli?" she answered on the defensive. Lily rolled her eyes and Bree said:

"_Please,_ Sammie, save yourself." Sam snorted and took her bangs out of her eyes.

"Fine. He sent me a perfume." She said dryily, holding it out to the redhead. Both her and Brianna smelled it and smiled

"It's the same one you always wear." Bree said, and Sam nodded.

"I know."Lo sé." She said.

"Apparently he does too." Lily mumbled, and then said: "What aboyt you, Bree?"

The little brunette went read again, flinging herself down into the bed and covering her head with the blankets.

"Come again? I didn't hear you." Said Sam when the girl's voice came out stifled from inside the blankets. Bree uncovered her head a bit.

"I'm so, so stupid," she said, covering her head again. Sam and Lily looked at each other and approached to her friend. On the night table, they found an amazing drawing of Bree drabbling something in a parchment absentmindedly. It was spectacular; from her curls to the tip of her eyelashes.

"Black." Lily mumbled, remembering what Potter had wrote her, and Sam seemed surprised. She sato n Bree's bed and forced her to uncover her head. The girl sighed and stared at the ceiling.

"I'm so stupid," she repeated, "I think I've fell in love with my best friend."

"And only _now _you realize about it?"

…

"It'll work, you'll see," said Peter sitting at the armchair's foot, biting the chocolate frog. James, sitting on the sofá, thanked him with a smile. "She has to like it, it was a really pretty hair slide."

"And if she doesn't, we'll think of something, Prongs." Said Sirius, sitting by the fire playing with a compass; as they had all stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas, they had woke up early to work in their newest project: "The Marauder's Map".

Remus place the big piece of parchment on the table and nodded.

"It's perfect, Padfoot," he said in an approving tone. "Now we'd have to draw the Ravenclaw Tower and stuff, and then the Room of Requirement." Sirius frowned.

"But I already drew the Room!" he exclaimed. The lycanthrope looked at the map again and shook his head, and his friend approached, puzzled.

"It's not posible! I swear I had drawn it. I'm not going insane." He said. Remus frowned and seemed to understand.

"I think I know what's going on. Let's see, sketch it again." He said. James leant forward to look and opened his eyes wide when, once that Sirius finished drawing it and left the quill aside, the ink lines disappeared as if they had never been there.

"It's unplottable," he said. Peter looked at him without understanding. "It can't be displayed in a map." He explained.

"Well, whatever, we'll go on with it later," Sirius said, gathering the materials and puting them into his rucksack. "It's Christmas day."

"Yeah, and we're gonna enjoy it, James added, stretching. "We were lucky your transformation was last week, Moony; you'll be able to enjoy the day in peace."

"Yeah, besides, it was our little Christmas gift; nothing better than a great adventure." Said Sirius.

Lily covered her mouth with her hands to avoid any noise coming out of it, but she couldn't stop tears from flooding he reyes. She had went down the stairs because she had thought she had heard Remus' voice and wanted to thank him, and she hadn't been able of avoiding listening to the last part of the conversation. Even though what Sirius had said made no sense at all, the rest of it did: Tiredness, rings under his eyes, monthly disappearances. 'Moony', scratches, secrets. Full moon.

**Answers to reviews:**

**Potterwatch:** First of all, thank you so much for reviewing! Secondly, sorry, late update! Classes begun and one of my teachers is driving me insane -.- I hope you enjoyed this one! And I'm glad you enjoyed James reaction!


	27. Chapter 27: Easter Holidays

**_Sorry, sorry, sorry for the delay :( I know it sounds like an excuse, but I swear that lately College=no life. Besides, remember I have to translate this from Spanish, which takes me longer…I hope at least the chapter is worth it! I can't wait for loooots of stuff to happen! In this chapter I tried to speed things up a bit, as I already wrote far many chapters than I was planning for year five… I'll do the same next chapter. This one is not that good, it consists mainly on short scenes and I don't know, it's probably too fragmented, but better this than nothing, right?_**

**_Aaaand something super importand, the great and talented Hikari (one of my Spanish reviewers) has drawn Bree, like Sirius did it last chapter!_**

**_I leave you the link here in case you're interested (it's worth it!); just delete the spaces: : / / dawnarts . deviantart art / Bree-323943308_**

And just like Christmas had come and gone, next year arrived and the first month went away so quickly that anyone noticed, and then another one, and then the next. While for the younger students April started as a quiet month, for the seventh and fifth years, the mere course of the time was stressing; each day that went by exams were closer, and the teachers reminded them about it with piles and piles of homework. But once again, Easter Holidays were coming, and with them, an excuse to get away from their worries.

"Seems like this year I'll be spending Easter at home," Lily commented looking at the parchment, puting her books in her rucksack and placing it on her shoulder, tottering a bit as she did so. Remus delicately took it, putting it on his back effortlessly.

"I'm going home too," he said, leaving next to her the classroom where they had met the Head Boy and Girl to arrange their last patrols before the holidays. "I'd stay… but I think it'd be good for my mum to see me." He said.

Lily looked at him out of the corner of her eye and she couldn't help doing the maths in her head. She was right; full moon was just a few days from now. Maybe that's why Remus would rather not stay at the castle with his friends.

From the moment she had confirmed her theory, the redhead knew she would never say a word to anyone. The truth about Remus would never come out of her mouth, she promised herself; and she had kept the promise: none of her friends knew anything about it. They had been worried about her at first, intrigued by taciturn mood, but they had assumed it was about her father. Remus, whom she had been looking at with pain for weeks, had thought the same thing. Until she understood that that was precisely one of the things her friends would hate; on one side, sure he would hate being hated and feared, but on the other side, the pity, the compassion. Only then Lily understood the reason behind his permanent lack of self esteem, behind hsi awkwards silences, his reluctance to relate to other people, and she knew that she would definitely not be helpfull by feeling sorry for him. She was about to tell him she knew his secret, but she assumed that that would only make him want to grow apart from her; she knew him well enough no know it. So Lily had opted to pretend nothing had happened. No, not exactly; she would just go back to treat him like she did before. Remus was the same bloke as always, he just had a… little problem. A little problem that probably made him unhappy, but it was already part of him, and it had helped developing his personality. The best thing the redhead could do was being there for him, as always.

"What will become of Hogwarst without you to control the subnormal beings you have as friends? I'm glad I won't be here to see it." She commented, making the lycanthrope laugh.

"I've already told you they're not that bad," the boy said, and Lily looked at him raising an eyebrow. Lupin let out a guffaw. "Fine, they're a bit troublemakers, I concede that."

"A little? Where were you when last week they let out Flitwick's mouses at Potions class? Or when about a month ago all Slytherins' belongings appeared floating on the lake? Oh, wait, I think you were there when they spoiled my Hallowe'en ball…" she spat, gesturing with her hands as she talked, the tone going up with every words. Remus tried to get serious, but failed with a loud crash.

"Well, they're big-time troublemakers. But they're good friends. And you must admit that since then they haven't been so annoying with you." He said. Lily snorted and crossed her arms; it was true, since Hallowe'en, they had stopped bothering her so much, although the occasional invitations to Hogsmeade or to a stroll by the lake were still common factor in all of their interactions.

"Fine. I admit it. BUt that doesn't mean they're not immature prats. And since they won the last game, Potter's ego is so swelled that I feel like hitting him unconscious." The boy laughed again, and he had to stop to breath, grabbing his stomach after Lily started mimicking his friends, running her fingers through her hair and walking as if she owned the world. The truth was that she did it quite well; anyone would have said that she spent hours observing him.

"By the way, why does he do that?" the redhead asked once her friend recomposed.

"Why he does what?" he inquired before pronounced the password to the Fat Lady.

"Why is he constantly untidying his hair? To make it look as if he has just gotten off the broom? Merlin, what a huge ego. We got it; we know he is a big Quidditch hero."

She pronounced that last sentence while she entered the Common Room, and as if he hadn't caught the sarcasm in the phrase, an insidious voice the redhead had learnt to recognize said:

"Talking 'bout me?" The redhead rolled her eyes, taking her rucksack and thanking Remus with a smile going to her room; or at least trying to, because Potter put his arm on the wall, leaning on it to block her way.

"What do you want now?" she spat moodily and with tiredness. James smiled smugly.

"I want you to go out with me."

"No." James sighed frustrated, messing up his hair.

"Come on, Lily, you know you want to!" Inadequate words' choice, as always.

"What I want is you to move awaym" she said, hitting his arm and cointinuing her way.

"At the end of the day, it'll turn out she's right," Remus commented with a smile.

"About what?" he said without looking at him.

"About you having the ego so swelled that soon you won't be able to stand up because of the weight of your head."

"At least she isn't seeing that Davis git..," the boy sighed after chasing his friend across the Common Room in front of an amused group of first years and hitting his nape with all his might.

"Weeeeell," Remus begun saying, and James face transformed.

"WHAT?" he yelled. The lycanthrope seemed to be struggling between telling him or not, but he decided that the best thing for James' health, for the community's welfare, and his own life, would be to tell him.

"He has sent her a note, I think they're meeting today at seven." He said, and Potter nodded.

"Fine. Where are Padfoot and Wormtail? Let's see what we can think of this time."

"No." The soft little voice came so the sofá so firmly that they both smiled; Bree inspired tenderness in everyone.

"What do you mean by 'no'?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. Bree sat up with her arms crossed and her curls in a mess, frowning and looking like an angry doll.

"You won't do anything to avoid or ruin their date today, James." She stated, confident.

"I would listen to her if I were you, Prongs," said Sirius, who had just went down the stairs with Peter. "You won't like to see her angry"

Bree blushed significantly, but greeted Sirius with a smile that he returned. Remus watched them and had to supress the impulse of rolling his eyes: how could Padfoot not notice that the girl was crazy about him? Maybe until Christmas it hadn't been _that _obvious, but after her reaction to Sirius' gift, Remus had no doubt about it. It had probably been then when the girl had realized about what she felt for the Marauders too. Their relationship, however, hadn't changed, despite Bree's usual blushs were even more frequent now. And, thought the lycanthrope, it was obvious that Sirius felt something for her too, but he probably didn't recognize the symptoms; after all, the boy had never had such a close relationship with a woman before.

"I thought you were on my side, Brianna," James commented, half joking, half serious. Bree rolled her eyes and smiled warmly.

"It's not a matter of taking sides, James," when he opened his mouth in order to answer, she hushed him. "But I'd like Lily to know how you really feel about her. Though it'd be good if you could make a little effort not to be so arrogant. But don't worry, James, trust me; if you interrupt their date you'll only get her to yell at you, to sound off about you and even to be interested in Aidan again."

"Again? She isn't interested anymore?" The boy pricked up his ears at the last phrase. Bree looked at her half-closing her eyes and with a smile that tried to be a reproachful expression.

"That's Lily's business." She said, but James' triumphant smile didn't dissapear from his face in the whole day.

...

"Wanted to see me?" asked Lily, approaching with delicate steps to the boy who was facing the lake, with his back to her. When he heard her, he turned around and dazzled her with his wide smile. For a second, the redhead regretted she hadn't dressed up a little, but she shook her head: she was sure about what she had decided to tell him.

"Hi, Lily," said Aidan, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Yeah, I think we have a pending conversation" the girl grimaced but nodded, gazing at the lake. He tucked his hands in his pockets and kicked a rock, which fell into the water.

"What did you wanted to tell me?" she asked, faking indiference. A half smile appeared on Aidan's face.

"You've been avoiding me," he said in a slightly accusing tone. Lily raised her eyebrows and begun saying:

"I haven't been…" the skepical expression on the boy's face made her smile. "Fine, yeah, I've been avoiding you." She said unwillingly. THe Hufflepuff shrugged his shoulders.

"And why's that?" Lily looked at him in the eye before answering.

"Our last date did end up fine exactly."

"Right, but that was your friends' fault, not mine." He replied moodily, and Lily scowled.

"They're not my friends and yeah, I know it was their fault, but you behaved as rudely as you did just now." She spat, folding her arms.

"I shouldn't have said it that way, Lily, but those immature arseholes deserved quite a-"

"You're overreacting, Aidan," the redhead had no idea about why she was defending the Marauders, but the words just came out of her mouth "I think your reaction was quite immature as well." The boy didn't really like that, as he muttered under his breath:

"Whatever. Anyway, I wanted to know if you'd like to go on a date with me again ot not; they haven't gave us… we haven't had exactly a chance to know each other better." Lily bit her lower lip before answering, wondering if she was doing the right thing.

"I think… I think it'd be better if we're just friends." She said. Aidan seemed quite surprised, and it was clearly not being easy for him to accept it.

"'Cause I've been rude with those tossers?" he asked with his pride a bit hurt; he was expecting Lily to say yes.

"'Cause I think it wouldn't work," she stated, omitting the fact that she wasn't very fond of the boy's exaggerated jealousy. "But we get along, it's not like we can't talk to each other again…" Aidan grimaced and nodded.

"Fine. Friends, then. I'll see ya around, good luck with those O.W.L" he said, saying goodbye by slightly bowing his head and leaving towards the castle.

Lily watched him walked away and she realized she was relieved. All of that Aidan's business had only given her headaches; someday, 'the one' would arrive, and she would know it.

…

"Then, that's it? No more Aidan?" Eli inquired, closing his trunk again and dragging it towards the door while Lily followed him doing the same thing.

"No more Aidan. At least not as a date." She answered, dropping her trunk and sitting on it. "What's taking Becca and Sam so long?"

"Fine. I must admit I didn't really like him." Said the boy, grimacing as he remembered how much Davis had disliked him when he saw him with Lily at the ball. "Though your love life going back to normal is gonna be boring."

"I don't have a love life," Lily clarified, rolling her eyes. "Though I cannot say the same thing about you."

Eli went red to the roots of his hair, and the redhead smiled triumphantly.

"I don't have a love life" the boy murmured looking away and sitting on his trunk.

"Well that's 'cause you're slower than a stunned troll, Eli," the boy looked at her outraged. "It's either that, or that you're a muppet."

The boy sighed with frustration, without denying it this time.

"I still don't get what are you waiting for, if she's head over heela fir you." Eli looked up, staring at heri n the eye.

"How can you know that? Did she tell you so?" he asked, skeptically, and Lily rolled her eyes again.

"Of course she hasn't told me, you know her; before admitting it, she would let us rip her tongue off. But it's obvious, Remus has noticed it too… wel all thought that after Hallowe'en you'd stop with this nonsense and be together already"

"You gossips, get your own lovelife to talk about." He replied getting into a hulf, though still red to his ears. Lily's expression mellowed.

"Oh, come on, Eli. You love her. And I know she loves you, I'd bet my life on it. You never know what may happen, or when circumstances will prevent you from being together. You don't have to let this go, Eli, you don't have to try to hold happiness up."

Eli smiled and put his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly against his side and making her laugh.

"Well, I'm sorry to inrerrupt this adorable romantic momento, but there are kids present," Black announced. He had arrived accompanied by Potter, Remus and Pettigrew; the two latter bringing their trunks with them.

"Get lost, Black." Said Lily, barely looking at him with indiference

"Hey Evans," said Potter, untidying his hair and looking atg her with his eyes half-closed. "Don't miss me, you'll be back in a week." Lil rolled he reyes and ignored him.

"James, don't provoke her, I don't want to lose my only company for Easter Holidays…" Bree requested, nimbly going down some steps followed by Becca and Sam, who were holding their luggage.

"And what am I, an oil painting?" Sirius asked, getting offended. Brianna approached to him and kissed him on the cheek, making him laugh and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Aw, how cute." Said Eli, looking at Lily in a way that suggested that probably those too also needed a chatg, but the redhead didn't seem happy about it; she was sure Bree was going to end up hurt.

While they talked, and while James tried to caught Lily's attention in a thousand and one different ways, Rebecca approached to Lupin, placing a han don her waist, smiling, and tilting her head to one side.

"So you're leaving too," she said, and Lupin nodded, his eyes fixed in her large and feline brown eyes. "Well, write me, i f your want. That way I'll know how you're doing with yout illness." The boy gave a start; did she know something?"

"It's not a secret that you aren't a healthy mate, Moony," she said, and he sighed, relieved. "So that one doesn't make it to the list; but don't worry, I haven't forgot about it." She said, winking and dragging her trunk towards the exit, walking away with her characteristic swinging of the hips.

…

"Checkmate!" yelled Bree, waving her fists in the air and jumping up and down his seat.

She was sitting on the floor, wearing a green pijama and striped socks, accompanied by Sirius and James, who were wearing comfortable muggle clothes. Sirius smiled at her across the table, and James, laying in the sofá, said:

"Well done! I haven't been able to beat him in Yeats." Bree looked at her opponent with suspicion, and she knew it immediately.

"You let me win!" she accused him, folding her arms and scowling. Sirius opened his eyes wide.

"What? No! You've won fairly." He said. Anyone who wasn't Bree or James would've bought it.

"No. You've let me win. It's not fun that way. I wanna play with James." She grumbled. Sirius leant over the table and stretched one of her curls, which tickled her when it went back to its place.

"I promise I won't let you win next time." He said, smiling lovingly.

"Fine."

"Have you heard of Lily?" asked James for the thousandth time in the day. Sirius rolled his eyes and Bree answered in the tone of a kindergarten teacher:

"No, James, I haven't heard of Lily today. You asked me this morning and this afternoon, and a whilte ago too, and I seriouslu doubt that she'll send me a letter at midnight, even less knowing she'll come back in a couple of days"

The boy stopped playing with the ball he had in his hands and looked at Brianna.

"Do I really have a chance? Or you're just saying it to get rid of me?" Bree smiled.

"It's up to you to get yourself that chance. I just said you shouldn't give it up for lost," she clarified, and James smiled thankful. "She might like you, if she really knew you. It's just that you don't let'er"

"She's the one who doesn't-" the boy started tos ay, but Sirius interrupted him.

"No, Prongs. It's you. And probably I'm not helping that much either."

"What's up with you these days? Are you finally maturing?"Bree asked, unable to Dodge him when he pounced on her and begun tickling her.

"Not that I know of"

…

Sirius closed the heavy wooden doors holding his broom; Bree and James would fly for another while, but he was a bit tired already. He went up the stairs, absentmindedly thinking about how fun the Easter Holidays had turned out to be.

When he reached the second floor, he heard some voices, but he didn't pay attention until he recognized one of them. It was soft and neat, and it stressed the syllables as if they had taught him the way of doing so. The 's' slipped at the end of some words, and Sirius could recognize the same haughty nuances that his own voice had.

When the boy shut up, he could hear a second voice; low and hissing, and easily recognizable as well.

"Hey, Snivelly!" Called him Sirius, appearing in front of them with his classic white smile. "Have you spent your holidays lurking in your lair? I haven't seen ya around." The boy gave him a withering look and took his wand out of his pocket as soon as he heard the Gryffindor's voice.

Sirius looked at the other boy, bute ven though Regulus' eyes show recognition at first, they soon turned cold and were accompanied by a scornful expression. Sirius was surprised that his brother had stayed at school for Easter holidays; he, unlike himself, was welcome at the Black's Manor. But seeing him with Snape had aroused his suspicions, and he knew how to connect the dots. Despite he knew that eventually it was going to happen, he couldn't help how much it hurt.

Snape whispered something and his brother left without even looking back.

"What do you want, Black?" He spat holding his wand, just like Sirius, who had taken out of his pocket as soon as Snape did so. "Although I shouldn't even call you Black; you aren't one, after all."

If that was trying to be an insult, it caused very litle effect. Sirius laughed.

"Oh, come on, Snivellus, you can do much better than that. Or did the oil in your hair ended up penetrating your skull and affecting your brains?" Snape pressed his wand and waved it, but Sirius did the same thing, avoiding to be hung in the air by his ankle.

"You're a foul, Black. You'll regret all of this in a few years. And I'll be the one to make you pay, if your brother doesn't do it first, that is." He hissed. Now it was Sirius the one to go red in rage.

"This is between you and me, Snape. The boy has nothing to do with it." He said, and a cruel and crooked smile crossed his face.

"Oh, but he does. You represent everything we hate, everything we want to eliminate; you're a blood traitor. Being related by blood to you means nothing to him, or, if it does, it only feeds his hopes to destroy you. To destroy the boy who came out wrong, the family's dishonor. It would be better for him if you were dead; with your mere existence you stain his name. That's why he has to kill you, and I think he has it quite clear. You're no longer his brother, and he doesn't belong to you anymore."

As Snape talked, Sirius tightened more and more grip, so much that the wand warmed up, as if it was trying to show him it was in danger of breaking. He was strongly gritting his teeth and his grey eyes seemed able of withering anything they fixed on. But they were glued to Snape's dark eyes, in which you could clearly see the pleasure that he was taking in what he said; savouring the words, enjoying the effect they caused in his interlocutor.

Snape had perfectly known what to say. He had verbalized everything Sirius had feared when he understood that his brother wasn't like him, but like his parents. Dishonoring the family, not being a Black, he couldn't care less. But Regulus was something different. Even if he told himself he didn't love him, even if he despised him in front of other people, he did love him.

"Shut your mouth, Snivellus. You don't know what you're talking about." His voice had lost all trace of sarcasm, and Snape's smile widened when he proved he had achieved his aim.

"Sirius?" Bree's voice seemed out of place, but it got Sirius to unglue his eyes from Snape and look at the place where it was coming from. Brianna was standing at the bottom of the stairs, and her large blue eyes expressed concern. Sirius loosened his hand a bit staring at her, but he was quickly back on his guard. However, Snape glanced at the girl and, thinking about it for a second, he turned around and left, with a satisfied smile still on his face.

"Are you okay?" asked Brianna, going up the stairs and brushing his hand with hers. Sirius tried to smile.

"Better than okay, Nana. Shall we go to the Common Room?"

**..**


	28. Chapter 28: Lily's Worst Memory

**Hello again! Here I am, with chapter 28! It's quite long, and it has lots of canon stuff, so I hope you enjoy it! I also wanted to let you know that I won't be able to write next chapter until after 8th October. I know it's too long, but I've been using every spare minute I had to write this one, and I can't procrastinate anymore, I have to study study study, 'cause this term is ending and I had loads to study for the exams… Really sorry and I hope the wait until next chapter is not that long!**

**Everything you recognize, dialogues, mainly, are extracts from "Order of the Phoenix" and "Deathly Hallows", and obviously belong to our dearest Jo; I just included them because they were important to the story, and 'cause I changed its perspective. Hope you like it!**

**I have one more thing tos ay, but to avoid spoilers, I'll do it at the end of the chapter!**

Lily went out of the bathroom, pulling up her red, shining hair. The ponytail softly brushed the base of her neck, a sensation that still felt odd to her, despite she had worn it shorter for quite a while now. It would eventually grow back, she told herself, toying with the tips of her locks with a bit of nostalgia.

"Oh, come on, Bree. Don't be naïve. The Ministry is just as frightened as we are."

They were still talking about the same topic they did when the redhead had got into the shower: the blood cleaning movement that became more dangerous and important every day. The whole wizarding community was terrified and worried; many of them had never imagined that that extremist group party would acquire so much power.

"It's a war; we can't lie to ourselves anymore. It begun some years ago already, and who knows how long it'll last. " Sam said, and Lily shuddered.

Desapearanced, deaths, chaos, torture. No one knew who supported that wizard that called himself Lord Voldemort, and who didn't. You couldn't trust anyone. Everybody was scared, for themselves, and for their families, their friends. Many escaped to remote continents, knowing, however, that if the war ran its normal course, it would eventually reach them there too. The Ministry did everything they could to keep muggles in ignorance, but even they knew something was wrong: they were dying too.

No one was safe.

"They're scared too," said Lily, expressing outloud the thread of her thoughts. Bree and Sam stared at her.

"Whom?" asked Sam, covering herself with the blankets. Lily approached to her own bed and sat on it.

"The muggles. They don't know what it is, but they are worried. They can feel it too." She said. Bree looked at her with sorrow; all of her friends knew she feared, she feared for her parents, and for Petunia.

"If we could only know who…" Brianna started tos ay, leaving the phrase hanging.

"Well, we know where are many of them gonna come from," said Sam, rage visible in her eyes. Bree looked at her with her eyes wide open, scared at an accusation like that one, and Samantha's laughter was sad and forced. "We all know it, where would those filthy snakes, those maniacs go if it weren't with the rest of the Death Eaters? You can see it in their faces, they find pleasure in what's going on, they can't wait to be part of it."

Lily's eyes filled with tears as she thought about Severus. She had been suspecting it for a while, but she hadn't been able to accept it. She didn't want to. She could only hope he wouldn't choose that path, though she was sure that others, like Mulciber and Avery, had done it already.

"Not all of them– " Lily started saying, swallowing the lump on her throat, but Sam cut her short.

"Don't you hear them talk? Isn't listening to their insults enough to make you see it?"

"She's right, Sam," Bree interrupted with a serious and gloomy tone. She looked at Lily and the expression on her eyes surprised the redhead. "Being a Slytherin doesn't make you a Death Eater," she said. "But you have to know how to judge people, Lily. You have to see them as they are, not as one wishes them to be." The freezing tone that pronounced those words was so uncharacteristic of her that it felt as if she was someone else. Lily knew whom she was talking about: Severus. The redhead knew her friends didn't approve of him, but Brianna never was the one to judge him; now something had changed.

…

James watched her absentmindedly move the food on her plate with her fork, slightly frowing. Her red hair fell on her shoulders and her long eyelashes caressed the air every time she blinked. She sighed and left her dish aside, and the boy felt the need to sit next to her, hugging her and asking her what was going on, he wanted her to trust him, and he wanted to be able of making all of her worries go away.

"If you stare so much you'll wear her out," Sirius said, and when he looked at him, James found him smiling smugly. He smiled too, looking at his dish and playing with his cutlery.

"I think it's time for me to go," said Remus in a tiny voice. James looked up and insulted himself in his mind for being so busy watching Lily that he had forgotten that it was late already for the lycanthrope, who was pale and as tired and weak as if he was loaded with the weight of a hundred men in his back.

"I'll come with ya," he said, standing up. Remus and Peter stood up too.

"I'm coming too," said the latter. Sirius nodded and stood up.

"Fine, in the meantime I'll go get the Invisibility Cloak," he said in a whisper, and then, smiling at the lycanthrope: "Get ready, 'case today's adventure will be more than fun,"

Once he said goodbye to his friends, Sirius kept going up the stairs, heading to the Common Room, but before he could go up two floors, he heard some steps behind him and immediately turned round. He could see the edge of some robes trying to hide, and he walked there giving big strides, pressing his wand with his hand; but before he fot there, the boy came out of his hiding place.

"Snape." Black spitted out, full with hatred.

"Black." He said in the same way.

"I know my life must be a hundred times more interesting than yours, but by following me you won't get anything. Why don't you go wash your hair or something?" said Sirius viciously, his grey eyes as cold as an ice floe. The memory of their last conversation with Snape was still vivid in his mind.

The Slytherin seemed lightly nervous; it was obvious that he wasn't prepared for a confrontation, although he had his wand up as well.

"Displaying your egocentrism as always, Black. Not everything's about you, I wasn't following you." He hissed, though it was clear that he was lying.

"Oh, you weren't, were you?" Black spat ironically.

"Are you hiding something, maybe? Is that what worries you so much?" Snape counterattacked, seizing the opportunity. Sirius laughed.

"Is that what you want, Snivellus? Know some o' the Marauders' secrets?" Snape got tense, but didn't give in.

"Or maybe you're trying to protect Lupin this time?" Sirius tried not to show any sign of surprise in his face, but something in his eyes changed, and Snape noticed it and smiled. "Oh, so that's it. Trying to protect your little friend. Well, you know what, Black? We all know there something wrong with him. And I've seen him. I've seen him going into the Whomping Willow with Mademe Pomfrey"

"As always, Snivelly, you're talking without having a fucking clue of what you're saying." Said Black. He was tired of that bloody, creeper Slytherin, always wanting to know what they were up to, always nosing around their business to find something he could use to get them expelled. He wanted to know what they were up to? Well, he'd tell him. "But if you're so interested in knowing what Remus does, why don't you see it by yourself? See if you finally convince yourself that we ain't breeding Runespoors or feeding Erklings with first years.*"

He could read surprise and anxiety in Snape's face, but also suspicion. Sirius was sure that eventually curiosity would win the fight.

"If you get a long stick, poke with it one of the knots at the foot of the Whomping Willow. It won't be hard to find, just try a bit and you'll see how it stops." Snape seemed disappointed.

"I'm not as stupid as to believe it, Black. I'm aware that watching me being torn apart by a tree is one of your most vivid wishes." Sirius raised an eyebrow

"You ain't that important in my life, Snivellus. You don't believe me? Then don't go; the one who won't know what's after that passageway is you, not me. You'll tell me then how fun it is to keep following us around the castle to try to find it out." The attractive Gryffindor turned around and continued his way.

Snape had bit, and Sirius knew it.

(*Info about the creatures taken out of Fantastic Beasts, for further info, look there, or google it:

Runespoor: Three-headed African snake. Ministry of Magic Classification XXXX

Erkling: Elfish creatures, three feet tall on average with pointed faces, which have a particular affinity for the taste of children. Ministry of Magic Classification XXXX)

…

"You took your time, Padfoot," James complained once Sirius had arrived with the cloak.

"I know, I just met our dear Snivelly on my way to the Tower," the boy grumbled, taking the cloth out of his rucksack. James smiled.

"As long as you gave him something to remember us, I forgive you for bein' late." Peter and Sirius laughed.

"Oh, don't worry, Prongs, believe me, I have," the boy said smirking, "Snape's gonna get the fright of his life." 'Fright?' thought James, usually they had to plan that kind of things, he had supposed Sirius had just hexed him, making his toenails fall off or something.

"What'd you mean?" he asked, not really worried.

"I've just told him what he's gotta do to enter the Whomping Willow."

James mind went blank for a second. Sirius had to be kidding; he couldn't have been that reckless. He looked at him in the eye with fear, and only then his friend's smile flagged. He wasn't joking.

"You did _WHAT_!?" James yelled, running his hands through his hair with desperation. Sirius seemed disconcerted.

"Come on, Prongs, it's just a prank. Snape will go in there and –"

"ARE YOU STUPID, SIRIUS!?" James bellowed, grabbing his robes and shaking him instinctively. Sirius shook him off. "DO YOU REALISE WHAT YOU'VE DONE!? HOW DANGEROUS IT IS WHAT YOU TOLD HIM TO DO!?" The boy's eyes were popping out of his head, and he seemed to have lost his mind. Wormtail looked terrified.

"Nothing's gonna happen to him Prongs! It was just a prank. I don't even think he'll do it, but in any case, he'll enter the tunnel, crap his pants when he hears the howls, and come back before even seeing Remus, and he won't relate it to-" Said Sirius, standing his ground, thought a hint of a doubt could be perceived in his voice.

"You can't know that, Sirius! D'you understand what you've done!? It's not a matter of him finding out the secret or not. Remus could _kill him,_ d'you get that? What d'you think that would to him? It would destroy him, Sirius. It would destroy Remus." Only then the boy seemed to understand, and without loosing more time, James hurried away.

"James!" Sirius called after him. "Where are you going? It's dangerous!"

"You think I don't know it?" his friend answered, going away. "Go see Dumbledore, right NOW!"

James didn't stop to check they did as he told them. He just wished he could make it on time

When he reached the Whomping Willow he looked around and immediately found a long branch from another tree which could be the perfect tool to press the knot. Snape was already there.

With the same stick, James stopped the Whomping Willow and got into the passageway as fast as he could.

"SNAPE!" he started calling him, but he wasn't sure he would be able to listen. The howls and moans of the recently transformed wolf flooded his ears and terrified him, but he didn't freeze. "SNAPE!"

Snape heard him, he heard Potter's weak voice calling him; he was probably trying to stop him from discovering the secret; they had probably believed he wouldn't really dare to get in there. But he had to see it. He had to know what Lupin did.

"SNAPE!" James moved as fast as he could throught the narrow tunnel, yelling the Slytherin's name at the top of his voice. "SNAPE!"

When he saw him, he felt as if whatever was pressing his chest loosened.

"SNAPE!" The boy instinctively turned, but ignored him and kept walking, and panic invaded the Gryffindor again. "DON'T BE AN IDIOT, SNAPE, COME BACK! DO YOU WANNA GET KILLED?" James rushed towards him and tugged his robes with all his might, but Snape struggled to get rid of him.

"Leave me alone, Potter!" he was trying to reach his wand, but couldn't do it while he tried to stop James from dragging him to the exit.

"We gotta go back, Snape! This is dangerous!" James shouted, using all his strenght, but despite being much stronger than the Slytherin, he was having a hard time trying to reduce him; the boy really wanted to know what was in there. He couldn't take out his wand either, because Snape impeding it.

The struggle lasted a few minutes, and only then James realized they had almost reached the end of the tunnel. A howl tore the night. Remus knew they were there too.

Snape managed to free himself, but James was fast and got in his way before a tragedy took place, standing with his back at the werewolf and protecting Snape with his own body, punching him in the jaw with his closed fist at the same time. But a second before doing it, he saw the horror and understanding in the boy's eyes, and he knew he had caught a glimpse of Remus.

"STAND UP AND RUN, SNAPE!" He shouted, pulling his robes to get him up and dragging him with him. The wold howeled, deranged because of the smell of human flesh, though he appeared to be fighting with himself as well. But the self-control didn't last long, and when they still had quite a distance to reach the exit, James knew he was following them. "GET OUT OF HERE, SNAPE!" he told him, pushing him and taking his wand out. The boy didn't wait for him to repeat it, and continued his way desperately.

James heard the wolf moving forward, and tried to run backwards with his wand up; there wasn't much a fifteen-year-old could do against a grown werewolf, but maybe he could manage to stop him until Snape got out, our until Dumbledore arrived at once. The animal's heavy breathing was coming closer, but the Slytherin's steps couldn't be heard anymore, and only then James ran away.

…

"Potter did _what_?" Lily asked with he reyes wide open. Her, Sam, Becca and Eli had met at the Charms Classroom, but Bree had took her time to arrive. When she had, she seemed quite upset, and she had told them she had been with Sirius. When they looked into the subject, the girl confessed that her friend had told her the reason the Marauders and Snape where at the Hospital Wing.

"He saved Snape's life." Bree repeated. Everyone was in shock, but Lily seemed to be the only one unable to believe it. "James' not a monster, Lily, and you know it. He's a much better person than you think; he would've saved anyone's life, was it yours or Snape's." The brunette said calmly. The redhead blushed, ashamed.

"How did he save him? Is everyone else alright? What happened that they're all in the Hospital Wing?" Rebecca asked, frowing with concern. Sam and Eli had the same expression on their faces.

"They're alright, no one's hurt, at least not with seriousness. I think most of what they've given them are tranquilizing brews and sleeping potions." Bree answered, though judging by her expression, anyone would've thought someone had died. Lily seemed very upset as well.

"But what did exactly happened?"Eli inquired. Bree sighed.

"I'm not sure. But Sirius seemed to believe it was his fault. And judging by the few words I exchanged with Remus, he seems to believe it's his; he's devastated." Before they could ask it again, she continued: "But for some reason, Snape wanted to enter the Whomping Willow throw the passageway that's at its base. What he probably didn't know was that in there there's something really dangerous, though I don't know what. James risked his own life to save him when he found out."

Lily was speechless; she wasn't sure what was what she was feeling. She was concerned and anguished, for Remus, Severus, but also for Potter.

"And Lily, please, don't ask Remus. I don't know what's happened, but I doubt it'll be good for him to have people reminding it to him. It'll probably be better if any of you say a word." Everyone nodded and stood quiet, thinking.

…

Two days had passed since they had know of the 'incident' involving Severus and the Marauders, and Lily was uncapable of stopping thinking about it. She tried to, because they were right amid their O.W.L, but only while she studied the redhead's mind put those thoughts aside. The rest of the time, during the meals or before going to bed, she could only think about Potter, Remus and Severus, and whatever had happened among them.

To avoid thinking, she used all of her spare time to practice and read for the exams, and that's why the library was the place where she spent more time at.

When she was coming back from there one afternoon, she heard a deep, nasty voice coming from one of the small, unused classrooms at the right of the corridor she had just taken as a short-cut. She kept walking and could see a burly Slytherin through the half-opened door, and she immediately decided to turn around and take the long way. But right before she did so, she realized another shadow could be seen under the door, and out of curiosity, Lily stood there for a second and tried to listen. The other person seemed unable of emitting a sound, as the only thing breaking the silence was Mulciber's scratchy voice. The redhead had to come closer to hear.

"I promise it won't hurt. The Imperius Curse isn't painful, don't I know it! On the contrary, you feel a pleasant feeling, as if you weren't self-possessed. Don't worry; you won't do anything you don't want to." The laughter that followed his words was the most horrible sound anyone could have ever heard. Lily was paralyzed after hearing that: The Imperius Curse? At school? And could he really perform it? What made her recover the senses was recognizing the other person in the classroom: after getting closer, she was capable of seeing the pretty blonde girl with the rosy cheeks. Mary.

…

_(A while ago)_

Despite Mary had always been a pretty girl, her fifteen-years-old really suited her. She was grown in heigh and her body had shaped; and even though she still had round cheeks, the rest of her features had sharpened. Her large, innocent clear eyes were beautiful as well, and matched perfectly her wavy mane of blonde hair. But maybe the thing that had made her more attractive was the change in her personality; even though she had always been shy and dreamy, now she was much more easy-going around people, and she used to joke around a lot when she felt comfortable. Besides, she had a sarcastic sense of humor and could be really scathing if she wanting to.

And her housemates hadn't been the only ones to notice.

"Hey, McDonald!" they called after her. The girl turned around and shuddered when she recognized him; it was already bad enough to had got lost _again _to, on the top of it, meet Mulciber in that dark corridor. She tried to ignore him and kept walking, but the boy reached her soon. "I'm talkin' to ya, McDonald." He said, grabbing her wrist and forcing her to turn round. They had never spoken before, but every pureblood families knew each other; they were few, after all.

"Right, but I don't wanna talk to you" she spat, trying to free herself: he was hurting her.

"C'mon McDonald, I don't bite." He said, grabbing her harder.

"Maybe not, but you stink."She let out. She knew she shouldn't provoke him, but right then the only thing she could think of using as a defense was her sarcasm. The boy scowled.

"What a temper, I didn't think you had it. You shouldn't talk to me like that. But I'm willing to let it go. You're quite pretty, McDonald, did you know it?" He leered at her and the girl shivered. She had to get out of there. "And you're a pureblood. Y'know? Your parents'd like it if you kept their surname clean. You don't have any mudblood boyfriend around, d'you?"

Was she playing with her? What was he up to? Mary struggled and managed to shake him off, immediately tucking her hand in his pocket until her fingers felt the wand and held tight to it.

"Guess that's a no." He clutched her chin with one hand, and before he could do anything else, Mary took out her wand and, waving it quickly, pushed the boy away, but not too much. Saying Mulciber was furious wasn't enough.

"Damn whore," he spat, waving his wand before she could defend herself. "_Petrificus Totalus!_" Her limbs glued to her body and she got stiff as a board, but before she fell on her face, the Slytherin held her. When he heard some steps, he dragged her into the closest classroom so that anyone would see them. "You shouldn't have done that. Now I'll have to teach you a lesson"

Mary was terrified; who knew what kind of awful curses that revolting being could know.

"Y'know? I'm well-known among my friends for one particular curse. Although it's forbidden, and I shouldn't practice it at Howarts…" Mary's eyes shone with fear. "But you won't say a word, will you? I promise it won't hurt. The Imperius Curse isn't painful, don't I know it! On the contrary, you feel a pleasant feeling, as if you weren't self-possessed. Don't worry; you won't do anything you don't want to." And then he laughed, and Mary felt nauseous, but the spell never came. Instead, a ray of red light hit the Slytherin's chest and his wand jumped to the other side of the room. Then she felt her whole body coming loose, but before she fell, Lily caught her. Then she burst into tears and clung to Lily, who put her left arm around her, pointing at Mulciber with her wand in the other hand.

The Slytherin looked at them with hatred, but minutes later he took his wand and left the place, under the attentive eyes of Lily.

Mary sobbed on Lily's chest and the redhead whispered: "Mary, are you okay?" the blonde, in tears, nodded. "What was he trying to do to you?"

"I don't know." THe girl answered, shaking. "He wasn't serious about the Imperius Curse, right?"

"I don't know." Said Lily, taking her hair out of her face. "Fine, once you calm down a bit, we'll go see Professor McGonagall and– "

"No!" Mary cut her short, opening her eyes wide. "Please, Lily, just leave it here. It won't happen again."

"Evans? McDonald? Are you alright?" James' voice sounded concerned; and it was. He had been spying on Lily at the library; they still had a long way to go until the Map was done, but the fact of knowing that he would be able to know where the redhead was all the time made him feel nervous for being unable to do it now; what if something happened to her? But he had got bored and felt asleep, and when he woke up, his Lily wasn't there anymore. They told him she had just left, so when he didn't find her on his way to the Common Room, he thought that maybe she had took the short cut. And apparently, he had been right.

"Potter!" exclamimed Lily, surprised, looking at him with his huge green eyes. When he saw Mary crying and Lily's wand up, he recalled having seen someone leaving the corridor. He got closer and materialized a handkerchief, handing it to Mary. The girl smiled grateful.

"Are you alright?" he repeated, staring into Lily's eyes. The girl looked at him hesitantly and glanced at Mary, then back at him, and nodded.

"It's nothing, Potter, we're fine." Concern was clear in the boy's eyes, and Lily felt something strange. She liked the fact that he worried about her.

"C'mon, I'll walk you to the Common Room."

…

Lily, focused on the reading of her notes, didn't realice when a skinny, pale boy with t¿dark hair sat in front of her until he whispered her name. The girl looked up and beamed when she met those familiar dark eyes.

"Sev! I'm glad to see you. How're your exams going?" she asked in a low voice. Severus smiled back.

"Fine, I guess. I hadn't seen you in a while…" he said

"Yeah, I've missed you, Sev–" Right then, the boy seemed to get anxious, and raised a nervous hand to wave at someone. Lily turned around and saw a group of the most despicable Slytherins passing by. She looked back at her book with a scowl, pressing her lips. She spent some minutes quiet, and then suddenly stood up, gathering her stuff. Severus looked puzzled.

"Where are you going, Lily?"

"I'm leaving. I'm…leaving. I'll go to study at the Common Room or something. I'm sorry, I just don't feel like being with you right now." And she left at a quick pace without saying goodbye. Her friend, hurt and confused, chased afte rher.

"But Lily! I thought we were supposed to be friends?" Snape said, "Best friends?"

"We are, Sev, but I don't like some of the people you're hanging round with! I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary Macdonald the other day?"

Lily had reached a pillar and leaned against it, looking up into her friend's thin, sallow face.

"That was nothing," said Snape desperately. "It was a laugh, that's all – "

"It was Dark Magic, and if you think that's funny – "

"What about the stuff Potter and his mates get up to?" demanded Snape. His color rose again as he said it, unable, it seemed, to hold in his resentment.

"What's Potter got to do with anything?" said Lily.

"They sneak out at night. There's something weird about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?"

"He's ill," said Lily, and she couldn't help getting nervous. "They say he's ill – "

"Every month at the full moon?" said Snape. He knew it. And the fact that he wanted to uncover him bothered Lily, the fact that he hated him…as if it was his fault to be a werewolf.

"I know your theory," said Lily, and she sounded cold. "Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do you care what they're doing at night?" Lately, Severus went on and on talking about the Marauders, and she couldn't know if it was out of jealousy or what, but the truth was that it really annoyed her.

"I'm just trying to show you they're not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are."

The intensity of his gaze made her blush.

"They don't use Dark Magic, though." She dropped her voice. "And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there – "

She knew it was a mistake to throw that back in his face, but it was true! As much of an idiot as Potter might be, he had saved him. Snape's whole face contorted and he spluttered:

"Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends' too! You're not going to – I won't let you – " Lily went mad.

"Let me? Let me?"

Lily's bright green eyes were slits. Snape backtracked at once.

"I didn't mean – I just don't want to see you made a fool of – He fancies you, James Potter fancies you!" The words seemed wrenched from him against his will. "And he's not…everyone thinks…big Quidditch hero – " Snape's bitterness and dislike were rendering him incoherent, and Lily's eyebrows were traveling farther and farther up her forehead.

"I know James Potter's an arrogant toerag," she said, cutting across Snape. "I don't need you to tell me that. But Mulciber's and Avery's idea of humor is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don't understand how you can be friends with them."

The moment she had insulted James Potter, his whole body had relaxed, and he probably didn't even hear the redhead complaints about the Slytherins.

"I'm not asking you to do anything impossible, Sev," The girl said sadly, but firmly as well. She stopped and looked at him in the eye. "But there'll be a time in your life when you'll have to choose."

After saying this, she left, leaving a troubled Severus behind.

…

_"He fancies you, James Potter fancies you!"_ Severus' words still bounced in her mind; What if James really fancied her? What if she didn't do all he did just to bug her?  
It would change nothing, Lily told herself, because the fact that he really fancied her didn't change the fact that he was an arrogant prat. ALthough sometimes not so much... All those turns made her nervous! It was just that sometimes, when he wanted to, he was nice and funny. No, no, he wasn't. It was some sort of performance, right?  
When she went down the stairs, she heard some laughter and she remained there, were she could see, but couldn't be seen. Potter was showing of, as always, juggling with some ink bottles for some first-year girls. The truth was that it was adorable. And he had saved Sev, and defended Remus in front of everyone... Why couldn't he be like that all the time? That would make things easier for her. When she realized what she was thinking in, she startled. Was she thinking on giving James Potter a chance?  
Right then, he seemed to hear her and looked up, beaming when he saw her. The little smile that Lily gave him without even realizing widened the boy's.  
"Will you go out with me, Evans?" he told her, standing in a way that was supposed to be a sexy pose, and messing up his hair. THe girls giggled and Lily shook her head, resigned but smiling.  
"No." She said, going down the last steps. When she had reached the portrait, she heard behind her:  
"It's just that she's studying for the exams," he cleared up, and Lily had to hold a guffaw. "You'll see how she says yes when the O.W.L are over."

The redhead headed to the library with a silly smile planted on her face.

...  
The Defence exam hadn't been hard at all; now they only had Transfiguration left and they were free, finally. Lily, Bree, Sam and Becca left the Great Hall together, saying goodbye to Eli, who was going to pick up some books before going to the grounds.  
It was a beautiful day, the sun softly reflecting on the lake's surface, and the four girls headed over there taking off their shoes and socks and puting their feet into the water.  
"This is the life," Sam sighed, tilting her head back and closing her eyes, enjoying the sun.  
"It's still early to sing your praises, we still have one left," said Bree, who was extremely concerned about Transfiguration, even though Sirius had helped her a lot.  
"Oh, come on Bree, forget it for now," Lily said, imitating Sam. Becca looked at her raising an eyebrow.  
"Who are you and what have you done to Lily Evans¿" THe four of them laughed and Lily smiled.  
"Maybe it's time for a change," she said. Lately, everything seemed to be going great.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ The shout startled Lily, who turned her head round, looking for whoever had thrown the spell. Bree and Sam did the same thing, while Becca just moved a bit, barely interested. They heard some laughter. "_Impedimenta!_"

Lily had recognized Potter's voice and tried to see what happened from her place, but every student had stood up, surrounding the Marauders and blocking the view. She sat up a little and what she saw made her froze in rage.

Severus lay panting on the ground, and Potter and Black advanced on him, wands raised. The redhead would have sworn that James had glanced at her. Pettigrew had stood up too, watching the scene with excitement, and Remus pretended he didn't see what was going on, sitting there with his book.

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" James' mocking voice felt like a blow in her chest. She was so surprised she couldn't even move, and she didn't see anything around her; only Potter, Black, and Severus.

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," said Black viciously. "There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word." Lily's stomach turned, how had she thought they could change?

When her friend started struggling on the floor, Lily reacted and stood up.

"You - wait, you - wait!" Snape panted. Sam tried to grab her robes, but she shook her off and gritter her teeth with a wrath she didn't remember to have ever felt. It all felt like a personal betrayal; she even fear tears would shed from her angry green eyes.

"Wait for what?" said Sirius coolly. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"

Severus let out a scream of mixed swear words and hexes, and before Lily could reach them, James said coldly:

"Wash your mouth. _Scourgify!_" Pink soap bubbles streamed from the defenseless Slytherin's mouth, and the redhead hurried up, yelling:

"Leave him ALONE!" She yelled it with rage and frustration, trying to drown the feel of betrayal being born in her chest. She hated them. She hated James Potter.

Both him and Black looked round, and the former's free hand immediately jumped to his hair, messing it up. Lily had never found that gesture as stupid as she did now.

"All right, Evans?" sad Potter, in that pleasant, deep mature tone she used when she addressed her. And it had always been nothing but a performance.

"Leave him alone," She repeated, looking at him with a great dislike that rose from the deepest of her heart. Was that the person Potter actually was? "What's he done to you?" She asked, looking for an explanation, something, one last hope that let her make excuses for him.

"Well"' said Potter, appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean…"

Many of the surrounding spectators laughed, and Lily felt like hexing them all. Remus didn't laugh, but he did _nothing._

"You think you're funny," she said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."

She was having a hard time controlling her voice; she wanted to scream so badly that she didn't think she would be able to stand it.

"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said Potter quickly. "Go on… go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again"

He was asking her out? After that little show he was throwing? That- that cheeky swine!

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," said Lily with restrained rage.

"Bad luck, Prongs," said Black briskly, and turned back to Snape. "OI"

While no one was watching, Severus had reached his wand, and after a sudden flash of light, a gash appeared on the side of Potter's face, spattering his robes with blood. Potter whirled about, and Severus ended up hanging upside-down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of greying underpants. Lily was disconcerted for a second; if you took it out of context, it was fun, but she immediately recomposed and said: "Let him down!"

"Certainly," said Potter and he jerked his wand upwards. Severus fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Disentangling himself from his robes he got quickly to his feet, wand up, but Black yelled, "_Petrificus Totalus!_" and the boy Snape kneeled over again, rigid as a board.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily yelled, enraged again. Forgetting she was a prefect and she could solve all of this in a different way, she took out her wand. She wouldn't let those pricks do that to Severus. She wanted to hurt them; she wanted to hurt James, make him feel the way she was feeling now.

Black and Potter eyed the wand warily.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said James earnestly.

"Take the curse off him, then!" She exclaimed, and her wand sparkled dangerously. James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the counter-curse.

"There you go," he said, as Severus struggled to his feet. "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus –"

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!' Lily blinked. Those words had actually came out of his mouth? Disconcert calmed her down for a second: what Severus had just said had hurt her more than anything, and it had came from the word she would've least thought of.

"Fine," she said coolly. Severys had chosen. "I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus." She said it as coldly as she could, because if she said what she was really feeling, she would burst into tears. She had just lost her best friend.

"Apologise to Evans!" Potter roared at Snape, his wand pointing threateningly at him. Anger sprang inside Lily again.

"I don't want you to make him apologise," Lily shouted, rounding on James. "You're as bad as he is." She said bitterly and angrily.

"What?" yelped James. He seemed outraged. "'I'd NEVER call you a - you-know-what!'

Then Lily spat out all that came to her mind right then, all that bothered her about him; all she had thought was changing:

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can - I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK." Then she felt the tears smarting in her eyes, so she turned on her heel and hurried away.

"Evans"' Potter shouted after her. "Hey, EVANS!"

But she didn't look back.

…

Lily cried for a long while, and her friends understood that there was nothing they could do. She cried over everything.

She cried because she had trusted, she had believed Potter could change. Because she had fell into his clutches, because she had removed her shield, standing vulnerable to his charms, to his games and deceptions. Because she felt like he had betrayed her trust, but also because she knew it had been her fault. She knew how Potter really was, but she had chose to believe.

She cried over losing her best friend, over the road he had chosen, and over him calling her a mudblood. She cried because, actually, deep inside, she had known it all along. She had always know things could only end this way when he was forced to choose. She cried over him and their lost friendship, over the life Severus had ahead of him

When she had no more tears to cry, it was as if they had anesthetized her; the pain went away, though in some kind of artificial way. Rage disappeared too, and although Lily knew they would both come back when the lethargy went away, she decided she wouldn't cry anymore.

…

"I'm sorry."

Severus was standing right in front of her looking like always; his sallow skin, his greasy hair, his uneven yellow teeth. His black eyes, shiny as beteles, fixed on her.

"I'm not interested" Lily answered, but she didn't said it coldly, but with indiference instead. And probably, that hurt Severus even more.

"I'm sorry!" he repeated. Desperation was clear in his voice.

"Save your breath. I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here."

"I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just – "

"Slipped out?" She realized there was no pity in her voice. She didn't feel it anymore. "It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends – you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"

Severus abrió la boca, pero la cerró sin hablar.

He opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking.

"I can't pretend anymore. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."

"No – listen, I didn't mean – "

" – to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?" She said in a tired tone. She knew there was nothing he could say to contradict her. Severus struggled on the verge of speech, but with a contemptuous look Lily turned and climbed back through the portrait hole.

…

**Something I want to make clear: I know Mulciber's episode might have been…too much. I just spent a lot of time wondering what kind of Dark Magic he might have used against Mary, and I did a lot of research… I had decided to do something else, until I read an article saying it was likely that he had used the Imperius curse, as he was well-known among the Death Eaters for this spell. And I think that in times like those, it would be probable that students like him had less scruples than usual, even at Hogwarts, 'cause he wasn't really smart, and 'cause he felt kind of "protected", or "untouchable" for being, (or being about to become) a Death Eater… I just see it as a way of bragging about the power they feel for being a You-know-who's follower… Anyway, I guess that's it.**

**Reviews' Answers:**

**Anonymous**: I don't know if you'll read this 'cause you commented on chapter 12, but thanks for reading! And yeah, I then thought about it better and knew he wouldn't have done that. But I had already written and uploaded, and I had to change tons of things to fix it… so well, I just let it like that. Thanks for your critique!

**Potterwatch**:Thank you for reading and commenting! And sorry it takes so long for me to update! I'm glad you're liking it!


	29. Chapter 29: Anger and grief

**Hello everyone! Thank you for your patience and I'm sorry for the delay, but y'all knew this was happening :/… I wrote it was fast as I could, so it turned out quite crappy. I was really looking forwards to writing this, but it ended up being one of the worse. Oh well, I just had to use the little time I got. Here it goes:**

..

Despite the heavy velvet curtains were drawn back, lugubrious darkness filled the spacious room, giving the environment a melancholic feel that the soft notes emitted by the guitar contributed to generate. The one playing it was the thoughtful figure sprawled next to the tall window.

He stopped for a second and took a long drag of the cigarette he was holding, shaking his head to take the silky hair out of his attractive face. Some muffled screams were heard some floors downstairs and the boy, leaving the cigarette in his mouth, strummed the strings again to avoid listening to them. Besides, music helped him relax.

e had gotten that old guitar just to annoy his mother, whom he had heard complain repeatedly about those 'filthy muggle instruments', but he had ended up liking it, even if no one knew about his hidden hobby. Smoking was another of his little signs of rebellion; he knew how much they hated it when the whole house reeked to cigarette. Besides, Kreacher had extra work trying to get rid of the – in Mrs. Black words – muggle smell from the various rooms of the manor.  
Anyway, Sirius own room was an expression of how much he hated that house, of how much he differed from his family, and of how proud he was about it. Gryffindor's colours flooded the place, and the spaces on the walls that weren't decorated in red and gold were completely covered by photographs, but only a few were magical; the ones of him and his friends. The rest of them were posters and clippings of curvy, bikini-clad muggle girls. (the expression in his parents' face when they saw them had been definitely worth it) and huge muggle motorcycles (if he could only get his hands on one of those…),. The rest of the place looked like any teenager's; books and papers everywhere, clothes and socks' balls here and there, some lost shoe… And, of course, the drawings.  
Probably all of that was the only thing that helped him stand the whole summer there; that the difference was quite clear. He wasn't a Black. At least, not like them. Of his cousin Andromeda he could say he was proud of being related by blood; she had disowned her family, married a muggleborn and had a little girl of… two, three years? He would have to meet her one day. Anyway, she wasn't a Black anymore, her actions had gotten her deleted from the stupid and ostentatious tapestry that his fool of a mother cared so much about, who always threatened to erase him too. That was a flattery, not a threat, thought the boy with a half smile-.  
Things had been even more unbearable lately. His father's cold excitement when he brought in news about what now could be called 'war', the irritating comments that his mother clucked happily about how someone was finally doing what should be done, putting those muggle people in their place. They made him sick.  
The noises coming out of the adjoining room interrupted the thread of his thoughts. What the hell was Regulus doing, training a herd of hipogryffs? Whatever, who cared.  
The boy was no different from his parents, if not worse. Surrounded by all those Slytherins, anxious to become Death Eaters, he had ended up reingorcing those irrational ideas in his tiny, closed and structured mind. He was so obsessed with 'the Cause' (as Sirius had heard him call Voldemort's stupid and sadistic campaign), that he even had a notebook with cuttings about it. The kid was insane, that's for sure.  
Walburga's screams were heard again, but closer this time, and Sirius suddenly stopped playing, sharply banging the strings with his open palm.  
"Shut up already, you old besom" He muttered, clenching the cigarette in his teeth and leaving the guitar aside. His grey eyes got lost through the glass, staring without seeing, trapped in that hole that the horrible manor was. "I hate this fucking house." He said bitterly, spitting the stub and laying against the wall.  
"SIRIUS!" Shit. Why the hell would be calling him that old witch?  
"Mutant, traitor!, WHAT KIND OF VILNESS IS THIS?" Now what? He had left his room just the minimum necessary, not more; there wasn't much he could have done to piss his parents off. Not that he mattered, on the contrary, he enjoyed it, but he wasn't in the mood to be bothered right now. However, it would probably be better if he went down, or they would come up and try to break the door down.  
He stood up and turned the handle, slamming the door shut behind him.  
"SCUM, TRAITOR!" his lunatic mother kept repeating. Sirius lent out the bannister with a bored expression, and when he turned around to head the stairs, he found his brother, standing earnestly next to his room; probably all that yelling had caught his attention as well. "COME HERE RIGHT NOW!"  
Regulus looked at him reproachfully and with disgust, and Sirius raised an eyebrow.  
"…THE SHAME OF MY LINEAGE"

"Enjoying the show, runt?" he said scornfully, and his brother wrinkled his nose. Sirius laughed. "Well, you're some fussy snake, ain't ya? At least the rest of your little friends don't walk around as if they had a stick shoved up their ass."

The boy flushed with anger. "USELESS, TAINTING YOUR FATHER'S NAME"

"Shut up, Sirius," he spat "You'll see how someday you'll regre-"

"Oh, Merlin, do all of you talk the same way? I'm fed up with your threats, and I seriously doubt any attempt of torture made by you could barely tickle a flobberworm. Why don't you go lick your mother's shoes, or some Death Eater's? Or maybe you could go draw litte hearts all over Voldemort's face in that journal of yours"

"Tease me all you want, but you know it even better than I do. The Dark Lord has acquired more power than any wizard in history, and it won't be long until he fulfills his aims."

¡ORION, MAKE HIM COME DOWN!"

"I'm coming, woman, I'm coming!" Sirius yelled wih expasperation, letting out every curse he knew on his way down. Regulus, as curious as he was when he was three years old, went after him

When he reached the first floor, he met his mother, her eyes sparkling, holding something with the tips of her fingers, as if she wanted to touch it as little as possible. His father, however, seemed impassive, reading The Daily Prophet, sitting on one of the living room's armchairs, thought Sirius knew he probably was just as mad as her.

"What?" the boy spat rudely, glaring disdainfully at the woman, who started waving frantically whatever she was holding.

"DON'T YOU HAVE ENOUGH WITH BEFOULING OUR FAMILY, ENDING UP IN THAT BLOOD-TRAITORS HOUSE? DID YOU HAVE TO GET THIS SUBHUMAN RABBLE FOR FRIENDS?" The witch was yelling at the top of her voice, and her forehead vein threatened to burst. It would have been hilarious if Sirius wasn't up to here with their nonsense. 'Subhuman rabble' in the Blacks' vocabulary could only mean one thing: muggle. Puzzled, Sirius fixed his eyes on what his mother was holding: an envelope. And what was so terrible about it? There was a postage stamp on it. The boy was about to smile; the only person naïve and unprejudiced enough to send something like that to the Black manor was Bree. Odd, as her family wasn't muggle, and as muggle mail didn't get to his house.

"What's it to you?" he said, waving his wand. "Accio!" The envelope flew from his mother's hands to his own.

"STUPID, FOOLISH FREAK! ABOMINATION! WHAT WOULD MY FATHERS SAY IF THEY SAW YOU WITH THAT SCUM?"Sirius gritted his teeth, enraged.

"You are the scum, old hag!" both Regulus and Walburga opened their eyes wide. The latter was deranged; she was used to Sirius rebellions, but he had never been so straightforward. Orion putt he newspaper down, willing to intervene. "All of you. Subhuman rabble? Subhuman are your retrograd ideas, and rabble is this bloody family with pretensions of greatness"

The woman waved her wand and Sirius felt as if she had slapped him. He felt his cheek getting swollen under his left eye, but he wasn't going to stop. "You think you're superior to the mugges, but you have no idea. I doubt there can be anything lower than Voldemort and his Death Eaters, something lower than you, _mother._" He scornfully emphasized that last word, dying with hatred everything coming out of his mouth. Orion stood up, livid, and flicked his wand before Sirius could defend himself.

An atrocious pain ran down his body, as if hundreds of hot knives where going through him. He felt his limbs twisting; the pain was driving him insane. He screamed. The pain ceased.

He found himself lying on his knees, with his palms on the floor. It was the first time he experienced the Cruciatus Curse, and now he understood how that could make someone lose their mind.

He stood up carefully (all of his muscles hurt) and looked at his father with his sparkling grey eyes, who looked back at him with a glacial expression. They remained silent for a gew minutes; Orion with no emotions in his eyes, while Sirius' bursted with an almost palpable hatred. The man, without saying a word, left the room heading to the Living Room. Then Sirius looked at his mother (not without glancing at Regulus, who seemed nervous). The woman, satisfied, smiled.

"You think you're better than us, but you're nothing. Nothing. You've stained our house and our name, you're exactly the same thing as a muggle. I hope your father's lesson has taught you to respect those who have the power. You're a disappointment, you have always been and you can't change it, but it's time for you to realize how things are, you insolent traitor. Muggles and blood-traitors will soon be where they should, and we won't have to hide anymore,'cause the world will be ours.

"Listen to yourself! Do you hear your crap? You think you're so superior, mother, but you're worth nothing. This whole family is worth nothing!" The boy yelled, turning around and storming up the stairs.

He entered his room, tucking the door open and closing it so so strongly that something broke outside. Angrily, he took the trunk from under his bed (he never emptied it) and kicked it open, throwing inside it the few clothes that were out and most of hisbelongings. He closed it again and left the room, hitting Kreacher (who was listening behind the door) on his way.

"Sirius?" Regulus' voice made him stop. He turned around and saw his brother a few feet from him, standing as rigidly as always, with his neat dark hair and his characteristic aristocratic features. But when he looked at him in the eye, he felt that, somewhere in there, was trapped the boy who used to chase him around, although, even then, he repeated like a parrot their parents' ideas. "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving." He answered, less harshly than he would have wanted. "Bye. Reg." They both knew that would be the last time they talked to each other.

The dark-haired boy went down the stairs and opened the door. When she saw him, his mother was able to scream, raising her wand, its tip on fire:

"Cross that door and you'll stop being a Black." Sirius let out a bitter laughter.

"I never was"

…

"Who could it be, with this day?" wondered Mrs. Potter, puzzled, looking up when she heard the knock on the door. She looked at her husband, who shrugged his shoulders, leaving the book aside. "James! Would you get that?"  
"Coming!" he yelled from another room, walking to the door.

James looked through the peephole and met two grey eyes. "Sirius?" he asked, opening the door as he did so. Standing in front of him, slightly wet because of the rain, was his best friend, with his usual joker smile, but a lightly distant lool. On one hand, he had his wand, on the other, his trunk.

"Hey." He said. They stared at each other and Sirius muttered. "I left."

James nodded and hugged him. His brother patted his back and laughed.

"Well, since when are you so corny, Prongs?" The boy laughed and punched him in the shoulder, taking Sirius' trunk and letting him in.

"Shut it, Padfoot. I'm proud of you." Sirius smiled thankfully.

"Jamie? Who was it?" James' mother's voice was heard from the hall.

"We've got company!" he yelled, heading to the living room with his friend, while his parents looked out the door, puzzled, smiling widely at the sight of Sirius.

"Oh, honey, you know Sirius' not company, he's family!" Mrs. Potter said lovingly and with a motherly voice, approaching to hug the boy, who felt a lump in his throat. "So pleased to see you so soon! And you look so handsome. How did you get here? You're soaking wet!"

"I'm glad to see you too," he smiled. "I came by Knight Bus; I just got a little wet when I got out…"

While the woman kept hugging an ashamed Sirius, Mr. Potter took a glance at the trunk, and by looking at his son in the eye he knew what had happened.

"Well, dear, leave the por boy alone, let him breathe." When she did so, Mr. Potter approached and patted him on the back with a smile. "Welcome home, son."

…

"Again, thank you for letting me-"

"If you say it one more time, Sirius, I'll shush you with a spell." James' mother threatened him smiling, pushing him towards the stairs. "Now go take a nice hot shower, I wouldn't want you to get a cold because of the rain. Your things are in James' room; I assumed that, at least for today, you would want to sleep there. Tomorrow you can choose which room you want, you know there's plenty of them."

"Thank you." And now he was the one to hug her. She smiled, patting his back.

"You'll probably want to get rid of this," James commented, sitting on his bed in his underwear, bowing his head towards his friend's open trunk, who was leaving the bathroom in his bóxers, vigorously drying his hair with a towel. "I don't think my mother would like it very much."

Sirius took the cigarette box and carelessly threw it to the bin; there was nothing to rebel against at the Potters'.

"Done." He said, sitting on th ebed they had placed next to James'. The place was so roomy that you couldn't tell there was an extra piece of furniture.

"Well, will you tell me 'bout it?" James asked. There were no secrets between them, and he knew that Sirius would prefer it if he was the one to bring it up. "I mean, not why you left, but what triggered it."

The boy heaved a long sigh and told him everything. When he had told him about the Cruciatus curse, James had stood up, enraged, and Sirius had had a hard time making him go back to his bed. He knew his friend was serious about going to see Orion, and he was touched by the fact he had gotten so pissed about it. He also told him what he had felt when he had said goodbye to his brother, something that he wouldn't tell to anyone else.

They remained silent for a while.

"You did good, coming here, I mean." Said James.

"Thanks, brother." Sirius replied with a smile.

"Oh! I almost forgot. Whose letter was that one? Bree's?" Sirius gave a start and rushed to look for it among the pleats of the robes he had hanged on a chair; he had completely forgotten about the letter. He found it and observed it curiously as he went back to his bed.

Yes, it was Bree's, and it had arrived by owl, as any muggle mailman would have found his old house. What intrigued him was the stamp

He opened the nevelope and was surprised to find just a few lines; Bree wasn't usually that brief.

"Shit." He said, his eyes fixed on the paper

" What?" his friend asked, puzzled.

"She's at Lily's…" Well, that explained the stamp, maybe they had no owls available and they had thought about sending it by mug- And then he realized.

"Her father." He said. Sirius nodded and said:

"He's past away." James heart sank; Lily must be destroyed. "The funeral's tomorrow."

"I… I don't think she wants me there." He said afte thinking about it for a while. Things hadn't ended exactly well with Lily last year, and all because of that stupid prank to Snape, when that filthy Slytherin had yelled 'mudblood' at her after she had defended him. As far as he knew, they had broken any kind of bond with each other.

And with him as well. She wouldn't talk to him anymore if she could help it, and James still remembered clearly everything she had told him. "You're just as bad as he is"… that had been the worst of all.

"We can go, if you want to. She won't see us. Just so you can check up on her, see she's alright, and see she's got people to comfort her."

James considered it for a few minutes and nodded. "Good idea. Thanks, Padfoot."

"Look," said his friend, pointing at the window, where an owl waited, pecking the glass. "Letter from Moony. I bet it's bringing the same news."

…

Lily wrapped her arms around her body, trying to stop the shaking caused by her sobs. She knew that eventually this would happen, but that didn't make it less terrible. Her father was gone, forever; how could a daughter accept something like that? Accept that the man that had always been in her life, protecting her and loving her, wasn't there anymore. Accept that she would never see those loving green eyes which looked so much like hers again. No, no, she couldn't accept it. She couldn't accept that her father was dead.

She had tried to be strong, for her mother, and she had tried to avoid crying in front of her. Lily and Petunia were all she had now, and they had to be okay to help her go through this. But at the end, Lily had had to lock herself in her room, at least for a few hours. Her mother, exhausted for crying so much, had fallen asleep on the table, and Petunia was with her, stroking her hair, so the redhead had silently left the place and went to her room, bursting into tears as soon as she had closed the door. She felt broken.

She received people's hugs and words like an automaton. Later, she would remember nothing about that day. She was vaguely conscious of her friends being there, and she heard the ceremony as if it was taking place miles away. Then Becca, or maybe Sam, had taken her hand and led her out of thre. Then she had cried, or at least that's what she thought. But she was sure about one thing: five pairs of arms trying to comfort her. But there was nothing they could do. 

He was gone.

…

Sirius and James left the Knight Bus slightly dizzy; it had given more turns than usual. They made sure no one was watching, and only then they threw the invisibility cloak over their heads.

They walked slowly towards the small group of people dressed in black, all of them with the same grieving expression in his faces. But James was only looking for one of them.

Lily, with her fists strongly clenched, stabbing her palms with her nails, was standing between her mother and Brianna. Her bright red hair had grown a bit past her shoulders now, and James' heart skipped a beat when he saw the pretty, white lily slide on it, feeling guilty for getting excited by such a triviality on a day like that one. Her beautiful eyes were swollen for crying so much, and, if it was possible, they were greener and brighter than usual. She had rings under them and was really pale, and her freckles were quite visible, even from the distance. She seemed so unhappy that James was about to go and hug her.

They remained hidden throughout the whole ceremony, until they saw Samantha taking her hand and delicately leading her inside. The rest of her friends followed her, except for Remus, who stayed behind, casting his eyes over the place, looking for something. When people begun to disperse, Sirius and James pulled off the cloak and only then the lycanthrope saw them and approached to them.

"How is she?" asked James anxiously, extremely concerned. Remus sighed.

"She's…bad." He merely said, and Sirius put an arma round Potter's shoulders.

"There's nothign else you can do, Prongs. You've seen she's with her friends; they won't let her alone." James nodded and started walking followed by Remus. Sirius stopped for a second and looked back, and then proceeded to follow his friends.

…

**Well, I hope you sort of liked this.**

**Reviews answers:**

**Potterwatch:** I was looking forward to writing this chapter as well; and I'm glad you feel empathy for her, because that was kind of my aim. Most people despise her for not being able to forgive Severus, but I understand her. I mean, I _truly_ feel really sorry for Sev, and so sad for him and about their story, so heartbreaking; but you have to understand Lil, I mean, this incident was just what made it 'explode'… but she suffered a lot throughout their friendship, and Sev had to choose. He made the wrong choice, but that's not Lilys fault, so we shouldn't be 'punishing' her. Still, I feel sorry for Snape too xD

And THANK YOU. You make me happy with all those praises xD Soooorry I know it was a long time, but I swear College was consuming me :( Thus, this crappy chapter, but at least it's something, right?

Again, thank you for reading and commenting!

**Ssy**: Thank you for commenting! And sorry it took me so long to update!


	30. Chapter 30: She won't talk to me

Well, just to keep with what's usual, this chapter also starts with a huuuge apology for taking so long to update… I don't mean to make excuses, but I've just been so busy with University, exams, and some burocratic issues about it, too. Now I'm on holidays, and if everything goes well, I'll be able to update once a week, as I had promised. Not much happens in this chapter, but sometimes these 'transition' chapters are necessary, and also, I'd like to narrate this last two years with more detail. I hope you're still there, reading me, and for those who haven't forgotten me, I hope you enjoy, and thank you for your patience!

**_SIXTH YEAR_**

"Late again?" Sam snorted with resignation when two dark-haired heads, and a sandy-haired one popped inside the compartment with rehearsed angelic smiles.

"Seems like you already know us quite well," Potter said innocently, widening his white smile even more.

"We're afraid our admirors (who had offered us a place on their compartment) could kidnap us." Sirius added, and his friend slapped him in the nape. Sam rolled her eyes and Becca looked at him with disdain.

"Shut it, Padfoot; you're not helping," Pettigrew told him off in a low voice, making Bree and Rebecca laugh.

"Can we stay?"James requested, pulling his best puppy eyes.

"Please?" Peter added,

"Pretty please?" Sirius said childishly, and even Becca laughed, and said:

"Whatever, stay. Black bothers me with his mere existence, but there isn't much I can do about it." Sirius threw her an irritated look, and sat quite offended next to Bree, kissing his friend on the cheek, who inevitably blushed, though it seemed to go unnoticed for the Marauders. Peter and James smiled thankful and sat on each side of Sam

"Have you grown some inches?" Sirius asked, flattening Bree's jumping curls with one hand. "Or you've just had a fight with your comb again?" Brianna wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue at him, but Black desist from his attempt of placate the brunette's tight ringlets. "The comb, definitely." He stated.

"Always so charming." She commented, frowning comically. Sirius displayed his two rows of shining teeth and raised an eyebrow seductively.

"I know," he said, puting an arm around his friend's shoulders and giving her a warm hug. "I've missed you, little midget." Samantha layed back on her seat and rolled her eyes.

"I've missed you too, Sirius," she said, scrutinizing his face. Sirius' eyes shied away from hers: he knew that, as soon as they were alone, she would ask him about him running away from home, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about it; it made him feel vulnerable, the way Bree always seemed to know exactly how he felt.

"How was your summer?" Becca asked, shifting on her seat until she was comfortable and naturally shaking her blonde, wavy hair. Black shrugged his shoulders, Brianna's attentive eyes still fixed on his face. James rushed to answer.

"Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Good." Becca simply said. "Does that mean Remus didn't have a relapse?" she asked. A smile flickered across Sam's lips; the Ravenclaw didn't even try to hide or conceal her interest in the marauder. The one who didn't notice it was either stupid, or Black; though that was practically saying the same thing.

"Err… that just... It means everything went just as always. He might have had a relapse, but nothing serious." Potter answered, elbowing Peter, who had a terrified expression on his face. "How's Lily?" he asked with anxiety: he had promised Remus he wouldn't bother the redhead's friends as soon as he saw them, but he just hadn't been able to help it.

"She… I guess she's fine, considering the circumstances. I mean, at least she pretends to be." Perks said, shrugging and looking at Bree, who was still quite bussy observing Sirius with a slight frown. Potter wasn't so sure about it.

"Have you seen her today?" He asked, and Sam shook her head, and then added:

"I mean, yeah, but just for a momento; she shot off to the prefects' meeting with Eli," James nodded once; she would ask Remus about her later.

The atmosphere inside the compartment was a bit tense and depressing, was it because of Lily's problems, or Remus', or because of Bree's concern for Sirius, and it was Rebecca (as it was usual), the one who took charge of cheering everyone up.

"Truth or dare?" She said naughtily, fixing her feline eyes on Black, who raised an eyebrow, looking at her with interest: it was a muggle game, but very well-known among Hogwarts' students.

"Dare." He said, his grey eyes shining defiant.

...

"No, Potter, you didn't carry out the dare." Moon was saying as she got off the carriage. Sirius and Bree looked at each other and shook their heads, chuckling. Since they had gotten off the train, James and Rebecca had been arguing about it.

"I did!" James insisted with obstinacy. He was supposed to ask Roger McCormack (Ravenclaw's Head Boy and Rebecca's ex-boyfriend) out – and Sirius had suggested that, in case he accepted the date, the dare would extend to a trip to Hogsmeade with him ('Who knows? Maybe after going out with this nutcase he decided he didn't like women anymore'. He had earned a kick with that comment).

"C'mon, Potter, you couldn't even finish the sentence before cracking up," Becca said, smiling.

"How could I not! Didn't you see his face?" James couldn't help letting out a guffaw when he remembered McCormack's perplex expression, with his eyes wide open.

"But according to the rules, you didn't carry out the challenge." Pettigrew said, shrugging. Potter looked daggers at him, and Sirius burst out laughing.

"I would shut up if I were you, Wormtail; remember you sleep in the same room as Prongs: think about the consequences."

"That means you owe me three dares. And you have to fulfill those." The blonde said triumphantly. Potter mumbled some complain, but as soon as they reached the Great Hall, the hungry marauders rushed to their seats.

Sam stopped by the door for a second, observing them with an odd expression on her face; something torn between resignation and outrage. Becca and Bree looked at her questioningly.

"What?" Brianna asked, smiling a bit at her friend's expression.

"When the hell did this happen?" Sam inquired with something that sounded a lot like desperation in her voice. Rebecca frowned.

"What d'you mean?"

"When did we become friends with those brainless brats?" Bree and Becca burst out laughing.

"I guess it was just a matter of time." Said the blonde.

...

Lily gently pushed the door, peeking inside to make sure the room was empty before opening the door completely. She entered and sat on the first row, as always, placing it not very carefully on the desk, accompanying the sharp noise with a sigh.

Luckily, the train's Prefects' meeting had extended, so her patrol had ended right when the Hogwarts Express had reached its destination. During dinner, she had smiled as much as she could and talked as much as posible to avoid being asked how she felt. As soon as they had entered their room, she had gone to bed alleging she was exhausted, and this morning she had woken up very early, leaving the room quietly and having breakfast alone. She didn't like avoiding her friends, but she _really _didn't want to talk about how she felt. Maybe if she avoided the topic for a few days, her friends would let it go. It hadn't been a happy summer, and she didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to forget about it and try to move on.

The girl didn't hear hear the door opening; she was lost in thought and anyway she didn't expect anyone to come so early to class, but James had heard her friends talking about Lily during breakfast and he had swallowed what he was chewing, jumping out of his sear and leaving the sleepy marauders at the table. He pushed the half-opened door of the Defense Agains the Dark Arts classroom trying to avoid making noise, standing next to it for a few minutes, observing the girl. Her dark red hair reached the middle of her back now, and her tiny freckles seemed to have multiplied, as it always happened right after summer. Her delicate hands toyed with the straps of her rucksack, and her beautiful green eyes were fixed on some point of the wall, but her mind appeared to be anywhere else. Even when nothing about her look showed signs of it, to James it was obvious that grief overcame Lily. He couldn't explain exactly what it was, but her vibrant carácter and that aura of joy that always seemed to surround her were gone; she seemed melancholic and thoughfull, as if she had no energy left in her body, or as if she had no more reasons to smile. He had observed her during dinner, and he had seen her laughing and joking around with her friends, but despite it, he knew that, actually, the redhead was suffering.

Suddenly, Lily turned to him, as if she had heard him breathing. She startled when she saw him standing there, and Potter smiled shyly. The redhead looked at him in the eye and detected an emotion she had seen a lot in her friends' eyes lately: concern. She felt something strange when she recognized it, a warm feeling on her chest, but the smile she was about to give him back died before reaching her lips: she couldn't let herself make that mistake again; trusting Potter again. She had been an idiot last year for doing so, and disappointment had been awful. As honest as his concern seemed to be, Lily knew she couldn't give in to it, 'cause that was just what Potter did; make people fall to his sweet-talking, but all his sweetness, his chivalry and friendliness were a façade, a lie.

"What's up, Evans?" The redhead's look hardened.

"Get lost, Potter." She spat rudely, and then looked back to the wall in front of her.

Lily's rudeness startled James, who stood there for a momento, without knowing what to do; this time he hadn't even brag about anything, and he hadn't asked her out. What had gotten into her? He messed up his hair with one hand and approached some steps to her.

"I just… I was wondering how were you doing," he said. The redhead didn't even look at him as she answered:

"Is it so hard to get, Potter? Leave me alone."

The bell rang, and loud mutterings flooded the corridors. James stood by the door until some students begun entering the classroom; so he sat down behind Lily, still a bit puzzled. His friends arrived and sat next to him, and Moon, Rivers, Perks and Boot surrounded Lily, lovingly pinching her arm or kissing hr on the cheek, and the redhead smiled at them as sweetly as always.

The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was an odd man; not flamboyant as Templesmith (who had retired to be an event manager), but he seemed constantly irritated and had a nervous tic in his left eye. He probably wouldn't last more than a year, James told himself trying to focus on whatever the professor was saying.

...

"For the thousandth time, Eli, I'm fine," the redhead said, planting a loud kiss on the Ravenclaw's cheek. "Stop pestering me already" she added with a smile. Eli messed up her hair.

"If you say so…" he said pompously, pointing at her seat theatrically. Lily rolled her eyes and sat down.

"Y'know what you should do instead of pestering me?" she asked once the boy had sat.

"What" he asked.

"Decide when are you gonna ask her out." She said, smiling maliciously. Eli went red, and Lily knew he would be quiet for the rest of the class; she had played dirty, but between Bree and him, they were driving her crazy.

"When is he asking out whom?" a soft voice asked. Lily and Eli looked up to meet a tired but smiling Remus. The Ravenclaw gave his friend a withering look, and Lily let out a giggle, looking at Lupin with his eyebrows raised.

"Can't you tell?" she asked.

"Of course I can; you gotta be blind not to see it. Or you gotta be Sirius." Lily and Eli laughed. Just as the redhead had supposed, Remus and the Ravenclaw got along really well, and the three of them had gotten closer thanks to the Prefects' meetings.

Remus scrutinized her face, and Lily had to make a huge effort not to roll he reyes. Bree. Eli. Now Remus.

"Li –" Lupin started tos ay, but she interrupted him.

"I'm _fine,_ Remus. I'm perfectly fine." She said as kindly as she could, but with a trace of exasperation. The lycanthrope looked at Eli, who shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

They left the classroom a bit late, so Eli waved goodbye and ran towards his next class, on the other side of the castle.

"You still have Potions, right?" the lycanthrope asked, pointing the corridor that led to the dungeons with his thumb.

"Of course; you too?" Lily inquired; that summer they had received their O.W.L's marks, and some professors required certain grades, and some students decided to drop certain subjects. Remus nodded and they headed to the classroom.

The boy was about to ask her again if everything was alright, but Lily's warning look stopped him.

"So why doesn't he ask her out already?" He asked instead, making a gesture towards the corridor in which Eli had dissappeared. Lily smiled.

"As cheeky as you see him, he's quite shy when it comes to tell how he feels about someone," she said, and then looked at him with suspicion. "He's nothing like Becca on that matter." Remus gave a start and look at her out of the corner of his eye.

"I guess," he said, rushing to sit with his friends as soon as they arrived at the dungeon.

"Why does she talk to him, but not to me!?" James was saying when Remus arrived and sat next to him and Sirius (Peter had been the only one without the required mark to continue with the subject)

"Because she wants to sleep with him." Sirius answered, and James smacked him in the nape, irritated.

"Why does she talk to you, but not to me?" he asked in a bad mood, staring at the lycanthrope. "I haven't bothered her! I haven't asked her out! I didn't even try to show off! And she looked at me as if I had flobberworm mucus all over my face."

"Not to mention she sent you to hell, Prongs, my dear friend," Sirius added, smiling sideways.

"You reap what you sow, James… You'll have to make a huge effort to make Lily trust you. Anyway, it's true it was strange that she talked to you that way… Doesn't sound like Lily." Remus answered. "She's trying to get over what happened to her dad. She just need some time." He added, guessing the boy's next question.

Right then, professor Slughorn arrived, and they had to save the chat for later.

...

"I'm sleepy," Peter stated as he entered the Common Room at the end of the day, followed by his friends. Sirius chuckled.

"And it's only day one, Wormtail," he said. "And remember you don't have Prefect duties like Moony, nor Quidditch practice, like Prongs…"

"Yeah, and the practice is –" James started to say, but he suddenly stopped and brushed his face with his palm, twisting his glasses. Sirius ssmiled with fake innocence and Remus, who understood his intentions when he mentioned Quidditch practice, looked at him reproachfully. "I am the team Captain." Said James.

"Yes." Sirius said, holding back the laughter.

"I have to pick the team members."

"Yep." Black nodded, and Remus and Peter laughed.

"I have to organize the trainings."

"Uh huh," Padfoot kept on saying.

"And I need a strategy"

"Exactly."

"Shit."

"You'll have fun." Sirius told him, pinching his cheeks as if he was an old lady. James got rid of him, laughing.

"You're a moron, Padfoot. Fine, I'll Schedule the tryouts for next week, I guess… We're lacking a chaser and a beater. And well, I'm supposed to test the rest of the team as well"

"Oh, my little boy is growing up! So responsible…" Sirius said, pretending to dry his tears.

"Next week, then?" Asked Perks, who had just entered the room along with Lily and Bree.

"Uh huh. And don't be late; you're one of the best players, Perks, you're gonna help me choose the rest of the team." Potter said. Sam looked at him with an eyebrow raised and a half-smile she wasn't able to hide.

"Fine." She said, taking the bangs out of his eyes with his hand, as she usually did when she was being flattered or when she was nervous, something that James had noticed a little while ago. She waved goodbye and so did Lily, though she didn't look at Potter. Brianna, instead, approached to them and rested her arms on the sofa's back, 'cause Sirius was pouting to make her stay.

"How was your day, Nana?" he asked, kneeling on the chair and toying with her curls. Bree smiled.

"Fine, though it'll definitely be a busy year again." She answered, shrugging.

"Well, you'll have to find some spare time," he said, his knees still on the sofa. Then, he leant on the back of the armchair and got closer to Bree's year, who went red. "Next week you have the team's tryouts, and if I remind it correctly, you promise you'd give it a try."

The brunette's round, blue eyes widened and she pulled a comical grimace with her mouth, but Sirius ignored it, winked mischievously, and sat properly again.


	31. Chapter 31: Quidditch and chocolate cake

_**As I promised, another week, another chapter! **__**Hope you enjoy it!**_

After her first week at the castle, Lily was the same as always; classes had been the distraction she needed to stop thinking about the events that had took place during summer, and the support and company of her friends had made her cheerful and sweet personality to come back to surface. She even was getting along with Sirius! She wasn't sure about how it had happened, but apparently, the marauders and her friends didn't hate each other anymore; instead, they seemed to be part of the same gang now, and it hadn't been forced at all, but natural instead. They weren't together all the time, but it was usual to chat with them during the meals or at the Common Room, and the arguments between Becca or Sam and Black or Potter had not reduced, but they did seem to have always a trace of humor or sympathy in them. That, and the stupid truth or dare game that apparently had started on the train and Rebecca, Potter and Black seemed to be enjoying so much.

When she thought about it, Lily realized that actually she got along with them too, even when they could be so irritating some times. However, she wouldn't give in about the James issue. At first, her friends seemed quite surprised at how cold and rude she was with Potter, but Eli seemed to understand her reasons immediately, and she suspected Remus did too, despite neither one of them had mentioned anything about it. Maybe she was being too harsh; after all, Potter did appear to have lost a tad of his bigheadedness, but when she reminded how she had felt months before erased any good feeling she might have for the boy.

James, on the other hand, was simply frustrated and didn't know what else he could do to attract the redhead's attention. He hadn't dated anyone in months, he didn't hex people just to have fun anymore – or at least he tried not to, he had stopped messing around _all _the time, he just did what he had to to attract her attention, including asking her out every time he had a chance. But the truth was that her coldness and being ignored were really discouraging him. However, that afternoon, profesor Hopkins would announce something that would cheer him up again.

Last week, they had started with a series of mostly theoretical lessons on non-verbal spells (the new Defense Agains the Dark Arts teachers liked talking _a lot;_ too much in Sirius, James and Becca's opinión), but today, they would be starting with the practical lessons.

"Which means," said Eli in a low voice while the teacher was still talking "he'll pair us up." Some seventh-year Ravenclaws who had already had many clases with Hopkins had commented to Eli and Becca that the man loved pairing or teaming up the students.

"Now, choose a partner and get to work." He announced immediately after. The three Gryffindors and the two Ravenclaws looked at each other.

"We're an odd number." Sam said, stating the obvious. "Toss for it?" Everyone nodded.

"Blue, red or green." Eli said; they were used to doing it that way, everyone took out their wand and whoever was the only one to make a certain colour of sparks was the one who had to look for another partner. If more than two people picked the same colour, they just did it again.

"I guess it's me this time," said Lily when blue sparks only came out of her wand. "I'll wait to see who has no partner."

Behind them, James and Sirius argued childishly.

"Come on Padfoot! It's my chance!" Potter was saying, gesticulating staring at the redhead.

"I can't believe you wanna leave me for a girl, Prongs." Sirius said dramatically. It was hard to tell if he was joking or nor, but Remus and Peter laughed anyway.

"It's my chance!" James repeated. Sirius folded his arms.

"First, Jamie, you're a wimp. Second, the ice queen gives you the cold shoulder, what makes you think she'll want to be your partner? And third, if she agrees, she'll just do it to have an excuse to send you to the Hospital Wing." That made Peter and Remus laugh even more, and James gave them a withering look.

"The four of you," called them Hopkins, startling them: the teacher had stealthily approached them. The marauders looked up and stared at him with their best 'I didn't do anything' face. "Pettigrew, go over there with McDonald; Lupin, with Mulroney, and you, Barker, don't pull that face, I won't leave you without a partner; go with Black. Mr. Potter, I think miss Evans doesn't have a partner yet."

James looked as if he had gotten his Christmas presents early. Not even Lily's grimace (the expression of someone who had just taken a long gulp of sour milk) could erase the wide smile that parted his face, literally from ear to ear. While the teacher talked, James stood up and cheerfully sat next to the redhead, dropping his books on the desk almost with pride, as if the fact that profesor Hopkins had paired them up was product of some twisted plan thought up by himself.J Lily seemed to suspect something like that, as she looked at him with suspicion out of the corner of her eye, but didn't say a thing.

"And you better make an effort," the professor was saying, "All of you; because if one of you has some trouble, it'll be your partner's responsibility to help you achieve the wanted results, even if that means you'll have to practice after classes."

'At least that jerk of Potter is good with spells," the redhead thought. 'That way I won't have to stand him overtime.'

Hopkins' words, however, provoked a different effect on James, whose mind started to conceive what he would consider a brilliant plan.

"Hey," he told her once the teacher asked them to begin working. Lily looked at him, at first with annoyance and then with resignation, thought the only thing James could think about were her beautiful green eyes.

"Let's just get to work," she said, taking out her wand and getting up of her place. Potter followed her, still smiling. "You attack, I defend myself." James nodded and they positioned as in a duel; Lily held her wand uo and waited…and waited, and waited, but the attack never came. She lowered her wand and stared at him, slightly disconcerted.

"What's wrong?" She asked, frowning in an adorable way. James felt like approaching to her and kissing her between the eyebrows, but instead, he pulled an innocent face and shrugged his shoulders.

"Seems like I'm not that good with non-verbal spells." He said. Lily narrowed her eyes with mistrust.

"Fine," she said, raising her eyebrows. "I attack, you defend yourself." She was sure James was playing the fool; if he had to defend himself, he would stop behaving like an idiot and just do it.

Only that he didn't: Potter's wand flew throught the air at Lily's second attempt with the disarming spell. The girl looked at him, slightly frowning again, but James looked at her with the same expression than before. However, she still had doubts, so she decided to give it a try with _Rictusempra_.

Although Potter raised his wand, the spell hit him right on his chest and he started laughing like a maniac, stopping only when Lily pronounced the counter-spell. Potter was definitely not getting the non-verbal spells technique.

"If you don't improve this week, Potter, I'm afraid miss Evans will have to help you after classes," Lily looked at him like a child who is about to throw a tantrum, and the teacher smiled. "Unless your partner improves." He told her.

Once the teacher left, James looked at Lily and smiled sideways, nodding at her and leaving the room.

"You're a genius, Prongsie," Sirius told him as soon as he reached them after the class. "A bloody genius." Remus looked at him raising an eyebrow.

"Seriously?" he said skeptically; only his friends could think that that was a 'master plan', if it even could be called a plan. Peter, however, encouraged him eagerly.

"I'll be a peabrain for the whole weak and get some overtime alone with Lily" James said as if that was the most brilliant thing someone had thought of in centuries..

"It shouldn't be hard for you," Sirius joked, "Whenever you're near the redhead, you act like a peabrain."

…

"Please, kill me," Lily said teatrically, shaking Eli with fake desperation. The Ravenclaw made her let the front of his robes go by grabbing her wrists and moving her away while laughing.

"Don't you think you're being a little exaggerated?" he asked, puting his arma round her shoulders while they walked towards the Arithmancy class. "Potter isn't that bad. He's quite nice, in fact; and you've heard Remus, he says he's a good bloke."

Lily snorted and mumbled a pretty unintelligible 'Yeah, right'

"Oh, come on, Lils, you can't really believe he is that bad," Eli insisted. As they were alone, he had decided it was time to talk about it. "I know what he did last year was… in terrible taste, to say it softly. He behaved like a pig to Snape, though we should agree that he is no saint either. But you know him, he adores being in the spotlight, but you also must have realized that there's more behind that, even if what he did to Snape was -"

"You don't get it, Eli," Lily interrupted him, sitting on her seat in the empty classroom. Her friend looked at her intrigued; in the redhead's tone there was a tint of sadness that he couldn't understand. The Gryffindor looked back at him and realized he wouldn't let it go. "It's just… It's not only that I hated what he did to Snape, but…" she was having a hard time expressing how she had felt, but Eli was still staring at her in silence, waiting for the explanation. Lily snorted again, frustrated. "I was beginning to trust him, Eli." She said, looking away. The Ravenclaw wasn't expecting that, and he wasn't quick enough to disguise his surprise. "I… I really thought he had changed, grown up; more than that, I thought I had misjudged him for a long time: I -" Lily bit her tongue before admitting she had been about to give him a chance; before confessing she had felt something for him. Or that maybe she still did, and she couldn't let those feelings emerge again, because she didn't want to be hurt again. "I just can't trust him again." She said. Eli nodded and they remained silent while the rest of the students entered the classroom.

"By the way, where's Remys?" he asked when the boy didn't appear. Lily was surprised that the boy hadn't showed up, but then she remembered that night was full moon… It was still early, but she wasn't sure about how it all worked, maybe he was exhausted and had decided to go to the Hospital Wing, or maybe Madame Pomfrey needed to give him something before he transformed, she wasn't sure.

"He's probably getting into trouble with his friends." She answered, making the Ravenclaw laugh.

…

Halfway to the Arithmnacy class, Remus decided to skip it and go to the Hospital Wing: he didn't know why, but today he was aching a lot; that night was going to be a rough one. Maybe Madame Pomfrey would give him something for the pain, so that he wouldn't have to skip the rest of the lessons. While he walked there, he couldn't help feeling eager and a bit excited thinking about the 'adventure' they had planned for that night. It was incredible that he felt that way, when before the full moons only meant pain and suffering for him. But since he had met his friends, everything had changed: he not only had fun during his transformations, but he also didn't feel the shame he used to feel for being what he was. However, there was a feeling that, even if he tried to suppress it, overcame him after every full moon, after every adventure. Guilt. Knowing that professor Dumbledore trusted him, knowing that he had accepted him when no one else would have, and knowing the way he was betraying him made him feel so guilty that many times he had taken the decision of telling him the whole truth. But no, he would drag his friends with him too; and it was all his fault. His friends were illegal Animagi because of him. The only thing he could do was stop doing it, stop going out with them every full moon… but he just couldn't. He was selfish and weak, and he couldn't give up to it.

"Bunking off, Lupin?" the voice really startled him; even with his excellent hearing, he hadn't heard her arrive. The girl laughed, and her laughter bounced on the castle's stone walls. "Sorry I scared you." She said. Remus laughed.

"No, you're not." He said, and Becca laughed again, looking at him sassily.

"Busted," she said, shaking her long, blonde mane. "I love scaring you." Lupin smiled sideways. "So this is another one of your secrets, Moony? The perfect prefect skives off every once in a while?"

"Well it seems to me you're doing exactly the same," he answered, raising his eyebrows. "I'm not surprised, though; it fits your profile" That made Rebecca laugh again and Remus smiled: he loved the sound of her laughter.

"I am a really good student!" sh exclaimed, pretending to be surprised.

"Right. I don't doubt you have great marks, but not because you're dedicated," he said. "It's because you're smart. Anyway, I meant it fits your profile because apparently you adore breaking rules." Becca smiled.

"Well, it seems Mr. Moony knows me better than I know him, even when it's not him the one trying to uncover my secrets," she said, raising an eyebrow. She was seductive even when she didn't mean to, Remus thought.

"Like you've already told me, I appear to be good at 'reading' people." The boy answered. Then Rebecca smiled mischievously and took his hand.

"Come on," she told him, pulling him by his arm. Lupin laughed.

"Are you kidnapping me?" he asked, but he followed her. Rebecca looked at him with her catlike eyes.

"You have anything better to do?"

"And where are you taking me?" he inquired, amused.

"First you'll show me where are the kitchens, then we'll take something (chocolate, I know you need your daily dosis), and then we'll go to the Astronomy tower to eat it in peace and laugh at how bored the rest of the crew must be at class." She answered, making him laugh. That woman was really something.

Once they had in their hands two big pieces of chocolate cake, they comfortably sat on the Astronomy tower floor. Remus carefully observed her while she was distracted devouring her cake. Her posture reflected her personality; carelessly leant with her back on the wall, one leg stretched on the floor, the other one slightly flexed. With her voluptuous curves, her full mouth and her long and blonde wavy hair, she was the pure definition fo femininity, and her catlike brown eyes were a mirror of her sassiness, intelligence, and kind heart.

The girl looked up and caught him staring at her, making him blush to the roots of his hair. However, she seemed to blush to, though she concealed it quite well.

"Well, Moony, now that you're high on chocolate, will you reveal me one of your secrets?" Remus smiled enigmatically. Becca loved that smile; it gave an almost dangerous touch to that boy with sweet honey eyes.

"I thought you had said you wanted to discover them on your own" he answered with a bit smugly. Rebecca folded her arms, raising an eyebrow.

"Bribbing you with chocolate is one of my tactics to do so," she said, smiling. Remus raised an eyebrow, mimicking her expression.

"Well it won't be that easy" he said

"Fine," said Becca, standing up and making the empty dishes disspear with a flick of her wand while Remus stood up too. "Then I'll tell you one of mine," When the blonde approached to his ear, her fragrant flowery perfume invaded his nose. "I like you, Moony." She whispered, and then went away with that delicate swinging of her hips, stopping by the door only for a second to say "Though, of course, that wasn't really a secret anymore, was it?"

Remus didn't know for how long he stood there, observing the door, still dazed by her perfume and with a silly smile on his face. But when his bones started aching again, his smiled dissapear and his face darkened. He was a werewolf. He couldn't and shouldn't fall in love.

…

"Come on, Bree; you are being just as Lily on her first flying lesson." Sam said, banging the bathroom door. She had her long black hair tied in a ponytail and was wearing the team's uniform.

"Thanks for that," Lily complained, also trying to open the door. Finally, Bree went out of the bathroom, pale as ever and with her large, round eyes wide.

"You gotta do it," Samantha said, pulling her arm and puting a broom on her hand. "We need good players like you if we want to win the cup this year."

"Besides," Lily added, smiling encouragingly "Didn't you promise it to Black?" They hadn't spoke about Bree's crush since that time she had received his Christmas present almost a year ago, but all of her friends knew she was still head over hills for him. And that only made her more nervous.

They managed to get her out of the room and drag her to the grounds; they arrived there at exactly six o' clock, and the Quidditch field was already crowded with students eager to try out. Sitting on the bleachers they could see Eli and Becca, who waved at the, thumbs up and smiling at Brianna.

"I'll go up there with them," said Lily, giving her a brief hug. "Good luck. You'll be great."

"I should go help Potter, he seems like he needs it" Sam said with a smile, patting Bree on her back and going to help the captain who, besides looking exhausted seemed to be having trouble to organize the Gryffindors.

Nervous, Bree looked at the bleachers again and she could see Pettigrew and Lupin with her friends. What could have happened that Sirius wasn't there?

"Boo!" said a voice behind her, making her scream and give an involuntary jumo. The boy burst out laughing, (though it sounded more like barks), and Bree looked at him frowning, though she was relieved that he was there. He seemed tired, but he smiled widely, taking his silky dark hair out of his handsome, aristocratic face.

"It wasn't funny." She said, trying not to smile.

"Yeah, it was," Sirius answered, winking "Good luck, Bree, though you don't need it." He said, giving her a kiss on the cheek and running to the bleachers, turning halfway to raise both thumbs.

Bree approached the group of students who would be trying out, standing right where Sam told her. When he saw her, James gave her an encouraging smile that the brunette had a hard time giving back. She didn't remember being that nervous ever, and she couldn't believe they had convinced her to do it. Why was she trying out!? Being in the spotlight had always made her anxious, but having to fly in front of all that people made her uneasiness worse. She had a knot in her stomach and her mouth was dry, and her heart raced as the students who were before her tried out for the chaser's spot. When James said her name she heard it as if she was underwater, and her legs trembled as she walked towards the center of the field, but all of that went away when she kicked the floor and her broom took flight.

When she was in the air, Bree felt freer than ever, and the way she felt when the adrenaline ran through her veins when she flied with the Quaffle in her hands was indescribable.

Later, she wouldn't remember a thing of that try out, but everyone assured her that the moment she took flight, it was obvious who was going to be the next chaser of the Gryffindor's Quidditch Team.

"Congratulations, Nana," said Sirius, going down the bleachers and approaching to Brianna once the tryouts were over. When he reached her, he smiled widely and gave her a warm hug. "I know you could do it." Bree smiled too, her face buried into the marauder's chest. Sirius kissed her curls and let her go, looking at her with pride.

"Thank you, Sirius," said Bree, tucking a curl behind her ear. "I… I wouldn't have tried out without you. Thank you." The boy smiled, but before he could say anything else, three women got there running and leapt on the tiny girl. All of them were talking at the same time and it was impossible to understand them, but once they let her fo, Bree thank them, pleased. Eli congratulated her as well, with the same fervour but a little more decency, and James approached to them and puta n arm around Sirius shoulders, looking at the four girls with a smile that even Lily gave him back.

"It'll be great to have you on the team, Bree. You're an excellent player, you really kept that to yourself!. Bree thanked him, thrilled, and said goodbye to them with a smile as her friends dragged her to the castle.

"Sirius!" she called him, turning around. "See you later at the Common Room, I need to talk to you," Sirius nodded and the girl smiled again, following her friends.

Sirius watched her walk away with a half smile on his face; he had never met anyone like Bree.

"You know she liked you, right?" James asked, looking at the girl.

"Huh? Whatcha talking 'bout, Prongs?" asked Sirius, slightly disconcerted, still looking at Bree walk away.

"And you know you like her, right?" his friend ask again. This time Sirius did look at him, frowning in an extremely funny way. James smiled innocently and patted his back, heading to the bleachers, were Remus and Peter were waiting for them.

**Answers to the reviews:**

**Knut**: thank you so, so, so much for all those comments! You truly make me really, REALLY happy! Sorry I didn't answer before, as I can't send you PM I wasn't sure about how I could answer. I answered in the reviews, a tad late, though, but here I'll answer to every single one of your comments, and I want you to know that I do check my reviews and you really, really made me happy:

-Chapter 8 review: THANK YOU! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And thank you for saying I should write my own book, it's extremely flattering!  
-Chapter 9 review: I do check for reviews! I get them in my e-mail. Again, thank you thank you thank you! Super glad you like it so much!  
-Chapter 12 review: Aw, thank you! English definitely is a tricky language, but I think Spanish is harder to learn if you don't grow up speaking it. If you ever learn Spanish, I'd be happy to give you a hand with it!  
-Chapter 14 review: Awww thanks again! You have no idea how happy you're makingme  
-Chapter 15 review: You don't review too much! I'm absolutely thrilled that you find this so good that you comment so much! And I'm truly thankfull that you take your time to do so.  
-Chapter 21 review: Haha, I'm glad you like the letters! James is so cute, isn't he?  
-Chapter 23: I'm glad you like the 'synonyms' and stuff! To tell you the truth, in Spanish we use them a lot, and I didn't realize that maybe they weren't so common in English writing. When you mentioned they were different from traditional ways of writing you made me realize about it, and I've been reading a bunch of books in English lately, which helped a lot. So I guess the other person who commented was right (thought he/she should've been nicer maybe), I just didn't know English writing was different regarding that stuff  
-Chapter 30 reviews: You aren't wasting your time AT ALL, you have no idea how encouraging your comments were! I hope you're still there reading!

**Guest1:** Sorry I take a while to update, I'll try to do my best and update faster, but real life sometimes gets really busy

**Guest2** (I don't know if you're the same person than above): Aww, I'm glad you like Sirius and Bree! I find them really cute, too.


	32. Chapter 32: Improving

_**Hello again! **__**First of all, I'm sorry for the little mistake I made last time; I accidentally uploaded the chapter in English in the story uploaded in Spanish, and vice versa. Now, I know this chapter arrives a bit late, but I tried to make it longer, so it took me longer to write as well (though the ending was written in a bit of a rush, so maybe it's not as good as it could be)… and well, I have to admit that it took em longer to write because I was a bit busy devouring the third book from the series 'Song of Fire and Ice', A Storm of Swords (part I). **__**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! And Merry Christmas!  
**__**(Oh, and you'll have your weekly chapter next week too, but then I'll be away the first two weeks of January, so pleeease forgive me, but during those 2 weeks I won't be able to update!)**_

Sirius quietly went down the stairs, exactly like the marauders knew how to do, and casted his eyes over the Common Room; it was late and all the students were in their bedrooms, but he knew Bree would be waiting for him, just like he had understood that when she said 'see you later', she had meant 'when there's no one left in the Common Room; they knew each other so well that it was a bit scary, almost like she was one of the marauders.

Indeed, she was there, sprawled on the sofa, her messy curls jumping around. He stood there and observed her for a moment. The dark, dancing hair that framed her tanned complexión gave her a look of playful innocence, as well as her round, night-blue eyes, which were a mirror of her soul and revealed her emotions but were deep and scrutinizing at the same time. It was easy to stare and get los tinto them without even realizing about it, Sirius thought, smiling without noticing. The rest of her features were small and delicate, just like her slight figure. She was really pretty, but he had never seen her that way, right? James was raving…

When he moved a little, the wooden step creaked and the girl looked up, smiling when she saw him. Sirius smiled back at her and approached, kissing he ron the nose and sitting next to her with his legs crossed, facing her instead of the turned off fireplace.

"Hi." She said, kneeling and turning to him. The boy thought he had seen a hint of color in her cheeks, but he didn't place much importance to it; Bree blushed for everything. He smiled when he thought about it.

"Congratulations again, midget." He said, untidying her curls. Bree complained, but then she laughed. "But I figure you didn't ask me to come here to praise your brilliant abilities as a chaser." The girl hit him with a tiny fist and he burst out laughing.

"Shut it; with those barks you'll wake up half of the castle." She scolded him.

"It's just that since you're on the team, you've gotten violent," he said with an innocent expression. "I had told you already that you shouldn't have tried out." Bree hit him again, but he grabbed her wrists and softly pulled, making her lose her balance. As a reflex, she stretched her arms and ended up leaning on Sirius' chest for a second to avoid falling, then she kneeled again, sitting on her heels.

She had only rested on his chest for a moment, but when she pulled away, Sirius realized he didn't want her to. Feeling that had disconcerted him and made him feel uncomfortable; he always hugged Bree or was really close to her, and he didn't recall feeling that way before. Or at least that's what he thought. Months before, he would have assured anyone that Bree was like a little sister for him, but now he wasn't so sure about it. Hadn't he found himself missing Bree's warmth on his chest and her curls tickling his chin when he hugged her? But back then he hadn't thought that meant anything. Damn James, putting that stupid ideas in his head!

"Don't you dare tickling me," Brianna warned him with a threatening finger, failing maybe for the first time to read Sirius' look. He smiled, but she frowned a little. She looked adorable when she did it. "You left your house"

Sirius sighed; he had been avoiding that conversation for too long, it was probably time to talk about it with Bree; that would calm her a little. He had already talked about it with James, Remus and Peter, but he had to admit that, in a way, he needed the girl's approval.

"I left my house." He said, fixing his grey eyes on hers, which were a very unusual shade of blue. Sirius found himself analizing his friend's features: the thick, dark eyelashes, the pinkish little mouth, the tiny nouse, the large eyes. She was pretty, and a lot, but he had always known that. But besides being pretty, she was unique; he had never met anyone like her. Her sweet, shy personality, but at the same time firm; her loyalty, her patience, her huge heart and her innocence were the things that had captivated him.

"Why?"she asked. It wasn't an accusation; she was neither judging him nor condemning him, and she wasn't even asking him out of curiosity. She did it because she knew that was what Sirius needed: understanding it himself, reaffirming his decision, knowing that he had done what he had to, and that if he could go back in time, he would have done the same thing. Because Brianna understood him like no one who wasn't James had understood him before.

"Because I don't belong to that family. Because I can't stand their outlook of the world, their ideas about good and evil and about life. Because I don't tolerate what they think of muggles, magic and blood. Because I can't put up with the way they treat their equals, their inferiors, or the ones they consider inferiors. Because I can't stand their arrogance and their thirst for violence and power. Because I am not like them, Bree." At that moment, he burst into tears like a mere child, with anguish and desperation, like he didn't remember he had cried ever before, as if, finally, whatever he had locked up in his chest had exploded. "I am not like them" He repeated, sobbing, sinking his face in Bree's neck while she put her arms around him.

The girl didn't say anything for a while, letting him cry and holding him tightly. When the tears ceased, she pulled away a bit and grabbed his face with her hands, making him look at her in the eye. Sirius, with his face wet with tears, fixed his grey eyes on her, almost supplicant.

"I know, Sirius," she said softly, with the boy's face still in her hands. "I know, I've always know it. It's you who didn't know. But now you do, and only now you can be really free." Tears begun running across the dark-haired boy's face again, but now they were out of gratitude. "You're not your family, and it's not their choiced that make yoy who yoy are, but yours. Neither I, nor you, nor anyone should care about your last name. It's true, you can't deny your family, you were a Black and that will always be part of yoy, but you are Sirius, and who you are and what you do with your life depends on you, not on what your parents have or haven't done; you are the one who traces your life, and only you can be held liable by it. You're Sirius, and that's all that matters."

"_You're Sirius, and that's how I love you"_ she thought, and it was hard for her to hold her tears, but she did it.

They didn't say another word; they just stayed there, hugging each other, until the dark-haired boy succumbed to tiredness and fell asleep with Bree's arms around him.

After a while, when she was sure he was sleeping deeply, the blue-eyed girl stood up carefully, levitating Sirius' body in fron of her as she headed to the boys' bedrooms. She softly opened the door she knew was his and entered quietly, but the marauders weren't sleeping (except for Peter, who had fallen asleep sitting while he waited.). Bree placed Sirius on his bed and smiled timidly at James and Remus, who were waiting up.

"We were worried," Remus whispered. "We figure what you were going to talk about and…"

"We know our Padfoot succumbs easily to his emotions; either to anger, passion, or pain;" Potter added with a half smile. "Thanks, Bree."

The brunette nodded and smiled, but when she was turning the doorknob, she turned around for a momento with a slight frown.

"Don't tell him I carried him here, will you?" she asked in a whisper "Just tell him he came up here by himself; he won't remember he fell asleep on the sofá." The two boys nodded with almost identical smiles and she smiled too, saying goodbye before softly closing the door.

"She's right what Sirius needs." James said, looking at his friend with a smile still on his lips.

…

"Poor Black," Lily commented in a low voice when they saw the marauders passing by. Of course, Bree didn't talk to her friends about what Sirius told her, but everyone knew he had moved to the Potters' during summer and basically all Hogwarts knew about his relationship with his family "By only looking at him, no one would tell he has suffered so much." And it was true; by looking at him, one could think that he was a brat who had everything served in a silver plate. He was arrogant and boastful, apart from being good-looking and good in everything, and the truth was that he seemed quite shallow. But he wasn't; they could know it because of how he treated Bree and how Remus talked about him, but now they also knew him better. He was a nice boy, extremely loyal, brave and with a kind heart and he was a valuable friend. Knowing everything he had went through, Lily thought it was amazing how cheerful and fond of joking he was, it was admirable really, and probably an example to follow in that matter.

"He'll be fine," said Bree, looking at him with a half smile as he poked Remus, trying to make him mad.

"He's not such an idiot, after all," the redhead said, and Sam made an skepticall noise, but Bree smiled, narrowing her eyes.

"You see! Sirius is great," she said "And you know who isn't that bad either? James." The redhead rolled her eyes.

"And here we go again." She murmured with apathy. Lately, both Bree and Becca were more annoying than ever regarding Potter, which had forced her to go from irritation to indifference each time they started talking about it.

"I'm not telling you to date the bloke, Lils, I'm just asking you to give him a chance to know him." Brianna answered, puting her rucksack on and standing up from the table.

"I'm fed up with Potter, Bree," Lily answered, standing up too. "I don't even feel like hating him anymore." She added, walking towards the Ravenclaw table.

"Well, that's an improvement, I guess." Said Brianna, and Sam laughed, following the redhead.

"_And if that were not enough,_" Lily thought after saying hello to Eli and Becca as they headed to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class "_I have to be his partner again today_"

As it was usual, the lesson begun with a brief speech given by Hopkins. Potter had sat next to Lily as soon as he got there, and the redhead had sighed almost imperceptibly; that was how her classes were going to be from then on, at least until they were done with the non-verbal spells. She decided she would continue to treat him with the glacial indifference she had greeted him with the first class of that subject, but what she didn't know was how hard it was going to be for her.

"Hi," the black-haired boy whispered as the man talked. Lily looked at him out of the corner of her eye and look back to the teacher, ignoring him. "Pssst. Hey, Evans." He insisted, his eyes still on her. The redhead pressed her lips, her eyes fixed on the profesor. "Evans." Potter insisted, and Lily ended up letting out a chuckle which made James smile widely. In order to keep ignoring him, she begun taking notes, even if it was the eighth time Hopkins repeated that. However, Potter stubbornly intertwined his arm with hers, impeding her to write, which made her (after a couple of useless attempts to get rid of him) leave the quill aside and look at him

"Hello, Potter," she whispered, fixing her green eyes on his for a second. "Do me a favor and shut up and listen to the profesor; you're not doing that well on non´-verbal spells as to ignore him" Merlin, she had forgotten how pretty were Potter's hazel eyes, with those darker spots around the pupil. Damn, she couldn't fall into that again! Yes, he had pretty eyes but a haughty smile…though maybe not so much now. It was a nice smile, actually. 'Too bad it belongs to a spoilt brat like him', Lily forced herself to think, begging that the boy hadn't noticed she had been staring at his mouth.

Anyway, James hadn't realized about it, as he had been too busy observing himself Lily's strawberry mouth. He looked at her in the eye again saying:

"C'mon, admit it, Evans, Hopkins only talks 'cause he like the sound of his voice." Lily smiled, shaking her head and looking forward again: Potter was a hopeless case, and so was she. What had happened with all that stuff about ignoring him and just talking to him when she had no other choice?"

Once the teacher asked them to begin working and they had moved the desk against the walls, James and Lily stood facing each other, positioned as in a duel.

"Please, focus, Potter," the redhead asked in a Sharp tone, raising her wand. "Neither you nor I like the idea of spending overtime practicing, as if he needed more homework."

The boy made an effort to suppress his smile; he had to control himself if he didn't want his plan to backfire again.

"Okay," he said, raising his wand as well. "You attack me first." He asked. Lily nodded and with a wand movement she made James' wand fly through the air. He looked at her with a bit of guilt before picking it up. Lily snorted: they had only one more class left to make Potter learn the spells or she'd end up alone with him the whole weekend.

"Look, Potter, try to focus, it isn't really that hard," she said softly and in an educational tone once the boy was back on his place. She would have to leave aside the indiference if she wanted him to improve. "You're excellent in Transfiguration, Charms and Defense: non-verbal spells are exactly that. Prepare as if you were going to throw me a spell normally but then, at the last minute, don't pronounce the words other than in your mind. Come on, attack me."

James didn't miss the flattery and smiled satisfied when he knew his redhead didn't consider him a good-for-nothing in addition to an arrogant prat. He moved his wand as if he wanted to disarm her but left his mind blank, making sure he looked frustrated enough when nothing happened to Lily's wand.

"Sorry," he said in an apathetic tone that sounded quite real. "I just get distracted with all this noise." Even though they were supposed to be practicing non-verbal spells, the truth was that they were making a lot of racket, either murmuring in an attempt to fool Professor Hopkins, yelling shield-spells out of pure reflex, or throwing books and desk to the floor by accident.

"Don't apologize," Lily answered; after all, it wasn't Potter's fault that he just couldn't do the spells. "Try not to think in everyone else."

They kept on practicing, but at the end of the class, the only improvement James had made had been such a weak disarming spell that Lily had only felt a slight pull on her wand.

"Don't worry," she told him before leaving when she saw he was a bit downcast. "We still have one class left, you'll do it then. You just can't be good at everything, Potter."

James had to bit his tongue to avoid replying haughtily: if he wanted to keep in his role, he had to do it well. So instead of that, he smiled, saying:

"Wanna go out with me, Evans?"

Lily held a guffaw, rolling he reyes and heading to the door.

"You haven't answered!" James yelled when she had already walked away.

"No. See you next class," she replied without turning around. "Practice!"

Obviously, he didn't, and next class was just as fruitless as the previous one, which didn't go unnoticed to Professor Hopkins.

"You have the whole weekend to practice," he told them, ignoring Lily's sulk. "On Monday I'll test you, and Mr. Potter better have improved or I'll have to take some points from Gryffindor." Both Lily and James complained, but the man was already gone.

Lily looked at James with resignation, and the boy comically batted his eyelashes as an apology. The redhead smiled without wanting to, shaking her head.

"Saturday morning, here." She said, putting her rucksack on her shoulder. "Seven o' clock. Don't be late." Potter was about protest, but she interrupted him "You've Quidditch practice on the afternoon, remember?"

"It's a date, then." He said, winking. "See you later, Evans."

"Sometimes I wonder if it's not you the brain in the gang." Sirius commented that night, sprawled on his bed and toying with a chocolate frog card after James had given a detailed essay on how he had made Lily smile and how he would get a date after spending several hours alone with her.

"Instead of Moony?" Peter asked absent-mindedly, nibbling at a chocolate frog, laying on his stomach.

"Instead of me, of course," Sirius answered, throwing the card to Remus' head, who was reading face up on his bed. The boy threw it back to him and hit him right on the face. "By the way, it's been a while since we last pulled one of the good pranks"

"I can't pull one of the good pranks, I'm supposed to be a mature bloke now."

"Laaaame" Sirius grunted, throwing the card at him, which Potter caught on the fly.

"Besides, Sirius, we're supposed to be working on the Map now," the lycanthrope reminded him, looking up and pointing the book he was reading. "Here it explains how the Protean Charm works; it's a tad complicated, but if we practice, it'll come out just fine. We just need to get the parchment where it's written the birth of each magical kid, and the quill that detects those, and then make a variation of the charm to make it work on the map, not directly mimicking the parchment, but keeping that information in some sort of memory"

"Great" said James, sitting straight. "Then, once the map know the existence of each wizard and witch, we'd have to find a way of detecting the exact place in the castle where they are, and make that reflect on the map."

"And how do we do it?" Peter inquired, still nibbling at the frog.

"I've been thinking we could find out how does 'the Trace' works," said Sirius, thoughtfull "If it helps the Ministry track underage magic, maybe we could find a way of making it track wizards and witches of any age. At least any of them who does magic, and try to improve it from there."

The three other marauders smiled widely.

"I can find that information," the honey-eyed boy said with a hand gesture. "There are a few books about the Ministry's functioning at the library"

"Maybe we could also find out how does that Quill works," James added, shrugging. "If we can make a 'trace' that tracks anyone making magic, and we combine it with the spell that allows that quill detect the birth of those people, maybe we can get a trace that detects when those people are at Hogwarts in which precise place, without needing them to make magic to be detected.""

"And then, Sirius only has to finish the last floor and the Towers' sketch," added Peter with his squeaky voice. "And we're done!"

"We should also think of a way of hiding it from everyone else, just in case." Said James, untidying his hair.

"That's easy," Remus replied without looking up from his book. "You or Sirius can do that spell with your eyes closed. What we need is a word to activate and deactivate it." Peter made a concentrated grimace, but before he could think of anything, the dark-haired, grey-eyed boy said spontaneously, and a bit pompously:

"I solemny swear I am up to no good" the four of them laughed; actually that phrase was true. James immediately thought of a line that would work to deactivate the map.

"And 'Mischief Managed' when we want to erase it." He added, and the suggestion was received with cheers from Sirius and Peter.

"That way, if anyone finds the Map, they wouldn't know how to make it work. I think we've thought of everything; in a few months we'll have it ready." Moony commented, closing his book and leaving i ton his night-table.

"I've gota n idea," Sirius said suddenly, toying with his wand. "The Map has to have a marauding touch; we should include a little prank on it for whoever tries to use it."

"I like the way your mind works, Padfoot," Said James, rubbing his hands "What did you have in mind?"

"Only insults, as varied and colourful as posible." The rest of them laughed, accepting the suggestion.

"Maybe we could even include some personalized insults," the boy in glasses added, taking them off and getting into his bed.

"What d'you mean?" Peter asked, eating the rest of the frog.

"The Map will know who is the one trying to use it, 'cause it'll know where's everyone in the castle," James answered "And I would pay to see Filch's face if the Map told him that having sex with an old cat isn't the healthier thing in the world."

Everyone burst out laughing, and only a while later they could all fall asleep.

…

Lily made sure not to make any noise while she got dressed and abandoned the room at a quiet pace not to avoid waking up her friends, who wouldn't be really nice if she woke them up at 7 am on a saturday. She went down the stairs and headed to the portrait hole, but a voice startled her before she could reach it.

"Evans," The redhead turned around with a hand on her chest. "Good morning." It was Potter, whose head popped out of the sofa with a wide smile.

"Potter! You scared me." The girl said, slightly frowning. "We'd agreed on meeting at the Defense classroom, not here."

"I know, but I thought we could go together, as both of us have to go from here, after all." He answered, jumping over the armrest and walking towards her, opening the portait and letting her pass. She looked at him with a bit of mistrust before going through the hole.

"Fine." She said, making sure she didn't look at him in the eye to avoid staring at the dark dots in them.

"Oh, and before I forget," he said, tucking his hand into the folds of his robes. "Here you go," and he threw a chocolate muffin at Lily, who caught it on the fly. "I thought you might be hungry."

The girl looked at the muffin, surprised by the gesture.

"Thanks," she said, biting it instad of saying anything else.

While they walked to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, James tried to strike up a convversation, but he was received with cold and Sharp monosylables from the redhead. When they arrived, they entered and found an oddly quiet room.

"Everything looks so different without Hopkins' voice as mood-setting music," the boy commented, and Lily laughed. When he looked at her with an honest smile, she sighed, resigned, and finally looked at him in the eye.

"Look, Potter, since the year started I've been trying to ignore you, but I guess I'll have to set that aside if I want you to learn the spells," she said. When the boy opened his mouth to add something, she interrupted him "But the fact that I don't ignore you doesn't mean I am your friend, even less that I wanna date you. I'm just your classmate, are we clear? After all of this, everything will go back to normal; the fact that we try to get along doesn't mean we'll be running around Hogwarts holding hands once this is over."

James pouted and asked:

"Does that mean you'll go back to ignoring me from Monday on?" He pulled his puppy eyes and Lily couldn't help letting out a guffaw.

"We'll see," she was forced to say, rolling he reyes at James' smile. "Now c'mon, stand there and raise your wand."

Potter obediently stood on his place with his best 'good boy' face and looked at her eyes. THey were gorgeous, large, almond-shaped and sparkly, full of vitality and passion, and James thought about how much he would like to feel those eyelashes tickling his cheeks. Lily, on the other hand, got lost into his hazel eyes, counting the dark dots.

"Fine," she said, shaking her head a little. "As I told you in class, non-verbal spells are not much different to verbal spells. Actually, pronouncing the words out loud isn't necessary, but we do it because it's easier to focus and concentrate our energy in the spell if we say them besides thinking them. Maybe you should start casting the spell a couple of times saying it out loud and only then try to do it without pronouncing it."

James nodded, disarming the redhead twice, but when at the third attempt he tried to do it without pronouncing the words, nothing happened.

"I'm sorry" he told her, frustrated.

"Don't worry, it's just that you aren't concentrated enough" she answered "You're not focusing your energy on the spell; you're thinking about something else"

The boy messed up his hair and stared at the floor.

"I just get distracted," he murmured. Lily frowned a little.

"But…there's no one here. No one's making noise-" she said. Potter took a while before looking up, messing up his hair again and looking away.

The truth was that James wasn't acting, he had really gotten distracted this time: his plan was to perform a spectacular non-verbal disarming spell at the first attempt to impress her; he was having a hard time pretending to be a peabrain. However, he had failed because, as the redhead had said, he hadn't been able to concentrate.

"I…I just, eh- Your eyes." He said, without looking at her. "I got distracted."

Lily went completely red, but ignored the comment.

"Err, just, just close your eyes," she told him "Try again with your eyes closed."

They practiced for hours, during the ones James pretended to improve little by little. When they were done, Lily was quite satisfied with herself.

"Good job, Potter," she told him as they left the room. James smiled and stared at her while she tied her shoelaces. Her little freckles were still visible and her long red hair had grown a lot. A lock of hair escaped from behind her ear and fell on her face, and she blew it away, as her hands were still busy with the laces. She was beautiful, but James had also fallen in love with her personality; she had a firm character and a temper, that was true, but the boy found it adorable, especially considering that the rest of the time she was sweet, patient, and also brave and strong, and she had a huge heart. She had even been patient all morning with him, James Potter, the boy she allegedly hated! Everyone loved her, and they had reasons to do it. Lily was exceptional.

"What?" she spat when she realized he was observing her. Potter shook his head.

"Nothing," he said, messing up his hair. "Will you go out with me, Evans?" Lily snorted.

"You really make an effort to be a berk, dont you?" she answered in a seemingly bad mood, but the truth was that Potter's wisecracks made her laugh. He was amusing and nice when he wasn't strutting around, and actually even when he did so he was funny sometimes. She really laughed a lot when she was with him, despite she hated to admit it. And well, no one would have denied he was good-looking. Too bad he was… well, Potter. He would ruin it; he always did.

"I do my best," he said, smiling sideways. "But sometimes it's hard to beat Sirius." That made her laugh again, and James couldn't help saying:

"You look pretty when you laugh" The redhead stopped laughing and blushed.

"Go, Potter," she said, a little bit sharply. "You've got training after lunch, and your friends must be waiting for you"

"How did it go with Potter?" Sam asked, finishing eating a roasted chicken leg and a nice amount of potatoes.

"Alright," Lily answered briefly, moving her food with her fork. Right then, Potter, who was sitting some seats away, waved heartily at her. Remus looked at him amused and Black threw him a look that clearly stated he was ruining the marauders reputation. The redhead rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"Well, I think it was better than alright" Sam commented with a haugthy smile and an eyebrow raised. Lily looked at her with a bored expression in her face.

"Let him play fool, he's good at it. He thinks I've fallen for him just 'cause I didn't ignore him for a couple of hours." She said, and then quickly changed the subject: "Where's Bree?"

"At the Quidditch field, nervous about the practice," Sam answered, laughing a little. "I hope she gets over it, 'cause I don't wanna imagine how nervous she'll be before the first match."

"Hey," said Eli, sitting next to Bree and kissing her spontaneously and naturally on the cheek, and then slightly blushed when he noticed what he had just done. Lily smiled mischievously, but said nothing. "Here," he said, handing some photographs to the dark-haired girl. "How did it go with Potter?" he asked, looking at the redhead.

"Fine," she said, and before he could ask anything else, she pointed with the fork at the pictures he had just given Samantha and asked "What's that?"

"They're from this summer," Eli answered, glimpsing at the pictures and smiling a little. "I took my grandmother's camera to that tournament Sam's mother invited us for fifteen days. Grandma just send me the developed photos."

"I love them," Sam said, smilign "Thanks, Eli. I should get going, the training starts in twenty minutes."

"I'll come with you" the blue-eyed boy said, standing up to go with her.

Lily watched them as they walked towards the Great Hall's doors and smiled when Eli put his arma round Sam's shoulders, softly pulling her hair. They were meant to be together, and it was obvious that they loved each other, how come they weren't together already? They should have started dating months ago. '_They are so complicated_" The redhead thought. The irony was that that's exactly what everyone else at Hogwarts thought about Lily and James, but then again, Lily had no clue about it.

"They are two adorable lovebirds, aren't they?" Commented Becca, who had approached Gryffindor's table and was looking in the same direction Lily was. "Too bad they're stubborn as stubborn as a mule and neither one of them will tell the other how they feel. Almost like someone I know…"

The redhead ignored that last comment and stood up.

"Wanna go see them practice? Maybe that'll cheer Bree up…" she said

"Good idea."

The girls headed to the Quidditch field, and in the way they met Black, Pettigrew and Lupin.

"Going to the practice?" Becca asked

"We usually do," said Sirius, shrugging "Besides, we have nothing better to do"

"What about your homework?" Lily asked, forgetting who she was talking to.

"For Merlin's sake, redhead, you're so boring. If I hadn't seen your legs I would wonder what Prongs sees in you." She knew he was joking, but still, Sirius couldn't avoid Lily's smack.

"Well done," Remus and Rebecca said in unison. The blonde laughed, but the lycanthrope avoided her eyes, which puzzled the Ravenclaw.

"Now, redhead," said Sirius

"My name is Evans, Black, learn it already." She interrupted him, but he ignored her.

"Because of you, James has made me stop pulling pranks to people, and I've accepted it because you know how annoying he can get, but we'll have to discuss it seriously when it comes to raising your children," he kept saying

"Are you on drugs, Black!?" Lily screamed: raising children, Potter, and herself in a same sentence were words that could definitely trigger a short circuit in her mind.

"I will be his godfather, and I don't want him to turn out a snooty swot like you"

"Do you really value that little your reproductive organs? I can give you a detailed explanation on what will happen to…"

While Sirius and Lily argued, followed closely by a fearful Peter, Rebecca approached Remus with her typical sassy smile.

"What's up, Moony?" she told him, walking next to him behind the rest of the crew. Lupin didn't look at her in the eye, pretending to be concentrated on Sirius' nape.

"Hey." He simply said. The blonde frowned.

"How have you been?" she asked him, shaking her long wavy hair, but the lycanthrope still didn't look at her.

"Alright." Well, oficially something was wrong with the boy, who usually was sweet and attentive.

"Are you okay, Remus?" she asked, using his first name instead of his nickname for the first time.

"Yeah, everything's fine, Becca." He said, walking faster to reach the rest. The Ravenclaw, disconcerted but not usted, approached her friends too, deciding she would talk with the boy later.

…

Lily yawned, closing the heavy book rolled up the long parchment before letting herself fall on the Common Room's sofá. The place was almost empty, except for a couple of third years playing chess in a corner. After the practice, Bree had stayed there flying with Becca, and Sam had gone to the library with Eli to help him with his Transfiguration homework. She had preferred to stay at the Gryffindor's Tower; getting up early on a Saturday hadn't been good for her mood.

"Hey, redhead," the boy dropped himswelf next to her, taking his dark, silky hair out of his grey eyes, and taking off his shoes without using his hands, finally placing his feet on the table in front of the fireplace "Whassup?"

"Black." Greeted him Lily, too tired to start arguing again; she ahd been about to pop his eyes out with her nails when Becca and Pettigrew had separated them "Where's your entourage of pillocks?"

"I'm glad you know I'm the marauders' leader, sweetheart," he said in a seductive tone, and Lily couldn't help rolling her eyes. "They must be wandering around, maybe helping Peter with some homework. I needed… to think" he said after a brief pause. Lily almost felt guilty for being rude to him; if he had needed some time alone to think, it meant that he probably wasn't as tough as he appeared, and leaving his place had affected him a little.

"Are you okay, Black?" she asked sweetly. The dark-haired boy seemed surprised at the question, but then smiled thankfully

"I'm fine redhead, don't worry," he said, shifting in his place until he was comfortable.

"I… I think what you did was really brave, standing for what you believe, leaving your home like that…" she said. "It's admirable, really."

"Thanks" said Sirius.

They remained quiet for a few minutes, until he added "You know I didn't mean it when I saw the only thing James must've seen in you are your legs, right?"

Lily smiled and looked at him

"I mean, I actuallt like you, Evans," he continued saying "Even if you have this aberrant obsession with rules and that hell of a temper."

Lily laughed "You're not that bad either, Black." The boy smiled, satisfied.

"Besides, you're perfect for Prongs," The redhead was about to protest, but he didn't notice "I know he can- we can be a bit bigheaded sometimes, but maybe you're what he needs to stop behaving like that. We have always been the golden boys, it's kind of hard to leave it from one day to another. He's a good bloke, and he really likes you, y'know?"

For some reason, Lily believed him. She had always doubted about what James really felt for her, or said he felt, but, and she never knew why, when Sirius said it, she believed it.

"You should give him a chance. At least try to know him. And I'm saying this because I seriously think you can make him happy. Just be patient with him."

Lily smiled; when you talked seriously with Sirius, you could see what a great person he was, and how much he cared for Potter.

"I'll take it into account. Thanks, Sirius." She said. The boys tood up and smiled.

"Does that mean I can call you Lily now?" he girl clicked her tongue.

"Why do you bother on asking? You'll just keep calling me redhead anyway." She said with a half smile and her eyebrows raised.

"Oh, but can you picture how mad will Prongs be when he knows I'm allowed to call you that?" he said, winking. Lily burst out laughing while the marauder went to his room; those boys were really a hopeless case.

**Answers to reviews:**

**-Team. **: Yo también suelo preferir leerlos en inglés, los disfruto más, y de paso, practico! Muchas gracias, me alegro de que te guste como escribo y de que creas que mi nivel de inglés es bueno! Jajaja, bueno como ves, Lily poquito a poco va perdiendo esa inseguridad y vuelve a interesarse por James; pero la verdad es que no sé cuán larga será la historia, porque tenía planeado todo capítulo a capítulo pero por más que no quiera se va exetndiendo y detallando, o la historia termina disparando para lugares que no había planeado. Va a terminar cuando termina el séptimo año en Hogwarts, con un epílogo posterior a ello, pero en cantidad de capítulos, la verdad es que no estoy segura. Muchas gracias por leer, dejarme un review, y muy feliz navidad!

-**Katy:** First, for your review on chap25, I bet trick-or-treating is really fun! We don't do it here so I guess I'll never know :P As for your review on chap31, thank you! I'm super glad you like the story, and I hope you did well in your exams :) I knowww, I feel truly guilty when I don't update for a long time, but sometimes I just can't find the time to write! Again, thank you so much, and merry Christmas!


	33. Chapter 33: Secrets

**_I'm back! Sorry for the delay; my holidays extended a little bit more than they were supposed to, and then it took me a while to finish writing and translating this chapter. I hope I won't disappoint! And I promise a new one next week._**

"Excellent work, Potter!" Lily exclaimed, clapping her hands. James smiled satisfied, bowing deeply and making the redhead laugh.

They had been practising all morning, during which the boy had pretended to improve a lot with non-verbal spells, to the point of realizing them perfectly, even as good as Lily; though of course she didn't know that wasn't the product of hours of hard work, but Potter had mastered the technique since the very beginning. However, the whole time they had dedicated to practice hadn't been entirely fruitless; James had achieved what he wanted when he had first pretended to be useless: thinking about teaching him, the redhead had lowered her guard during the hours they spent together, and without realizing, she had got to know him better. James had shown himself just as he was in front of her, without bragging about anything and also leaving aside his arrogance, and Lily, having demolished her defenses and having away of her mind the idea that she had to hate the boy and everything related to him, had laughed at his jokes, absently answered his questions, shared his opinions about different topics and even jokes with him.

James had learnt about the redhead's family and her muggle life: about her father, mother, the relationship with her sister and the home in the little town she lived in; he had learned about little details like foods she liked or her favorite color; he had learnt about what she cared about and what she didn't; he had listened with delight to every one of her guffaws. He could have listened to her talking for hours and hours without getting bored; she was the most fascinating person he had ever met, and he wouldn't have minded if she had started talking about the stone of the walls; he was sure even that could soung wonderful if it cameo ut of her lips.

Lily, on the other hand, had got a glimpse of the real James. By the way he talked about his parents and friends, by his jokes and comments, by the way he expressed his opinions and the way he listened to her, she had realized that James had a big heart, was fun, smart and loyal to his loved ones, and faithfull to his ideas. It was nice being with him, and she had heard him and answered to his questions without thinking she was talking to the arrogant brat she knew since first year

Later, both of them would reflect about how comfortable they had felt with each other, as if it had always been that way, or as if that was the way it was supposed to be. Years later, James would say that was the moment he knew they belonged together.

"Well, I think we're done," Lily commented, tucking her wand in her robes' pocket. "And you better do it this good tomorrow, 'cause if Hopkins sends us more homework, I'll kill you" She said, pointing her finger at him. James pulled an angel face and nodded

"Yes, my captain" he answered, and Lily rolled he reyes, turning around and heading to the door. James hurried to arrive before her and open it up for her, and she rolled her eyes again, but the truth was that she liked the gesture.

"Does this mean that from tomorrow on, you'll go back to ignoring me?" the boy asked once they had begun walking towards the Great Hall. It took her a moment to understand what he meant; he had been so at ease with Potter that morning that she hadn't even realized it was him she was with. For a second, her features hardened; after all, a few weeks ago she detested and distrusted the boy, and she had only stopped ignoring him because of Hopkins. But then she remembered Sirius' words and said: So what? It wasn't like she was going to date Potter or something; she would just stop being rude to him; apparently, they could get along when they wanted to. She gave a hint of a half smile and said, looking at him out of the corner of her eye:

"Not necessarily," James' eyes shone and she made an effort not to laugh "As long as you don't behave like a prat, I guess we can be friends or something" The boy smiled timidly and Lily smiled back.

"I'm glad we can be friends or something, Lily" He said, using the same words as the redhead. Even though it wasn't what she had meant, to James, those words implicitly meant that they could be more than friends, but he made sure not to mention anything to avoid ruining it again, because even though he had got what he wanted, he was still at a delicate point in his relationship with the girl, and he had to avoid topics that could screw it all up.

When the boy used her first name, Lily remember her recent talk with Sirius, and a slightly evil smile briefly crossed her face: he couldn't leave Sirius without the satisfaction of bothering his friend, right?

"Evans, for now," she said, trying to be serious. James pouted but accepted.

"Fine, Evans, then," he said, but added "But you can call me James." Lily smiled when she said:

"I'll take it into account, Potter"

As they turned round a corner, immersed in a trivial conversation, they ran into a strange group that made them shut up: a crew of fifth, sixth and seventh year Slytherins that were gathered by a dark corridor, talking in a really low voice. They couldn't know what they were saying, but for some reason, the hair on Lily's nape stood on end and James had the instinctive reflex of taking out his wand. However, they weren't seen, but they were heard, as the group dispersed as soon as they arrived. A shiver went down the redhead's spine and James looked at her in the eye.

"I don't like them." She admitted, looking at the corridor were the group was gathered a few minutes ago.

"Me neither. They're truly creepy." James answered, adjusting his glasses. Lily nodded, but said:

"Yeah… though it feels like something more than that…" She left the sentence hanging, but the boy understood

"I think that too." He said, and she looked at him with questions in her eyes. James looked back at her. "I, too, think that nowadays, Slytherin house has become a Death Eaters' recruiting center."

"I never-!" She started tos ay, but James interrupted her:

"C'me on, Evans, you're gonna tell me that you don't believe that many of them already hide a dark mark under their robes?"

"So you believe it too?" She whispered, with an odd emotion in her voice that James couldn't recognize.

"Yeah. But if they can take part in this war, then we can too." He answered.

"What d'you mean?" SHe stopped for a second when she asked.

"Nothing, never mind," he said, taking the importance out of it with a hand gesture and beginning to walk again, talking about lunch.

As they walked talking about how hungry they were, a first-year boy with really blond hair run by, and they had to move to avoid crashing into him. Lily, always in her role of Prefect, turned around to remind him authoritatively that he shouldn't be running in the corridors, but right then they heard a sob and the redhead stopped.

"Poor thing, d'you think he's alright?" She asked James, looking with concern in the direction the boy had dissappeared. James was about to answer, but tight then a boy and a girl ran by, also from first-year, and Potter called them:

"Hey! You two! Kid..!" The two first-years stopped by them; the boy staring timidly at the floor and the dark haired girl looking at Lily in the eye, as if she was defying her to give her a detention. "Are you looking for your friend?" James asked, and the girl seemed disconcerted when she didn't get told off.

"Yes," she answered, suddenly shy, and the redhead's big, concerned eyes fixed on her.

"Is he okay? Does he need to go to the Hospital Wing or something? Do you need help?" She asked sweetly, and the girl shook her head.

"No, it has been the news," the boy said, his eyes still on the floor. He seemed about to cry too. Lily and James looked at each other and knew something was wrong before the boy kept talking: the magical world was immersed in terror and war, and even if Hogwarts was almost isolated from all of that, it was not posible to ignore it any longer. Every day, students received news of a relative hurt, tortured or dead in the hands of the so called Death Eaters, and some students had even started to abandon the school, as their terrified parents preferred to have them close.

"It's his mother," the girl said, because the boy seemed unable to keep speaking. "She's been attacked… by a werewolf." Both Lily and James gave a start, thinking about the only lycanthrope they knew, thinking about what a new like that could do to him. "She's alive but…" She looked at her friend out of the corner of her eye. "But we don't know if… She's really hurt, and even if she survived, she's been bitten…"

Silence flooded the corridor, and Lily, without realizing, took James' hand, but let it go as soon as she felt the warmth of his fingers closing over hers.

"She was my aunt." The boy whispered, and Lily felt like crying.

Once the kids had left, running after their friend, Lily and James kept walking towards the Great Hall in silence. When they were at the door, Potter softly took her wrist to make her stop and Lily looked at him in the eye, but he looked away.

"Could you… not mention any of this?" He asked, and the girl looked at him disconcerted. "At least for now." James seemed a bit uncomfortable, as if he didn't want her to ask him questions, and then she understood: he didn't want Remus to know, at least not yet.

Potter seemed surprised when she nodded in agreement, entering the hall before him.

"How did it go today?" Remus asked once they had sat next to the at Gryffindor's table.

"Fine," Lily answered with a smile. "He alredy got it." When the redhead looked away, Lupin threw James a reproachful look, but he smiled widely and then started commenting with Sam and Bree the new strategies he had thought of for the team. After a while, Sirius winked at the redhead when no one was looking and said carelessly:

"Would you pass me the salt, Lily?" James looked up suddenly and looked at the aforesaid, who ignored him, giving Sirius the salt and saying just like that:

"Here you go, Sirius." Everyone had to make quite an effort not to laugh at James' expression of extreme outrage, but however the boy swallowed his words and said nothing, and no one had time to nag him, because right then, Moon and Rivers arrived with a copy of _The Daily Prophet _and sat with them, one at each side of the redhead.

"Have you heard of the attack?" Eli asked, throwing the newspaper at Sam, who caught it on the fly. James and Lily looked at each other and Sirius looked up with interest. Remus, however, kept his eyes on the plate, making sure not to look at Becca, who noticed it and frowned.

"What happened?" Bree asked, leaning t oread the news.

"There's been a Death Eaters' attack in London, in a magical neighbourhood" Eli answered

"But there's been more than curses and deaths," Becca added

"Werewolves." Murmured Sam, her eyes fixed on the newspaper. Sirius, James and Peter exchanged looks, and Remus went white as paper, staring at his food. He seemed about to throw up, and that didn't go unnoticed to the blonde.

"Greyback and his lot," said Eli, and Remus shuddered. "They've been recruited."

"Greyback?" Bree inquired.

"It's a known werewolf; he hates wizards and witches and believes it is his duty to infect as many as posible. He attacks children, 'cause he thinks that if he raises them away from his parents, they'll learn to hate wizards as much as he does," Eli answered "He's not like the rest of the werewolves," Everyone listened attentively, except Remus, who seemed to want to be anywhere but there. "Werewolves have no control of themselves when they transform, it's not their fault what they can do, but he isn't like that. He plans it all, whom he'll attack when he transforms"

"How do you know all that?" Sam asked in a whisper

"Greyback bit my father when I was a child," Eli answered, and even Remus looked up then "He was going after mi, but dad got into his way." Everyone looked at him with their eyes wide open: no one, not even Becca, who knew him the longest, had ever heard that story; they only knew that the Ravenclaw's father had died when he was still very young. "Then he died. He was murdered." He made a pause. "By wizards; aurors."

Then Eli looked up and looked at Remus in the eye, and the lycanthrope realized Eli knew.

The Ravenclaw stood up and left the Great Hall in silence, and his friends knew he wouldn't want them to go after him. Sam made as if getting up, but Rebecca stopped her. Sirius, James and Peter exchanged looks again, feeling out of place, as if they had been intruders in the confession of a secret that not even Eli's best friends knew until then; but Remus knew the boy had done it for him, so when his friends got up, murmuring that they would go to the Common Room, the lycanthrope mentioned that he would go to the Hospital Wing first, leaving the place before the rest.

When he went out, right on his left he found Eli leaning against the wall, waiting for him. When he saw him, he made a gesture with his head and begun walking, and Remus following him without saying a words, entering behind him to an empty classroom and closing the door softly. He stood in front of him and fixed his eyes on him, both in silence.

He curiously observed the boy who could have had his destiny; or the destiny he could have had if his own father had made i ton time. Would have he preferred that? He didn't know. Remus wondered if the Ravenclaw thought the same thing every time he looked at him. A healthy boy who had seen his father sacrifice, suffer and die for him; who had to carry the guilt forever; and an accursed boy, destined to be repudiated by society, who saw his parents suffer every day out of guilt and pain for their son's condition. Which one would each of them had chosen, if they had had a chance? There was no point in wondering.

That cheerful Ravenclaw had a past and a load that he had decided to share with him, and he believed he understood why. He wanted Remus to be aware that there was someone who understood him; that he knew what a werewolf had to go through, and that he supported him. He probably had known about his condition all along, but had decided to tell him now because of the attacks.

"You know." Said Remus, breaking the silence. Eli nodded without saying a word for a few minutes, and then murmured:

"I know."

"Since when?" Lupin asked, stepping closer and toying nervously with the edge of his robes

"I've suspected it for a while, but I've only confirmed it last year, when I got to know you better," he answered "You don't have to worry though, I have told no one." The boy sighed relieved, though he had assumed Eli had kept his secret. "But I think Lily knows it."

That seemed to take him by surprise.

"How's that?" He asked. Eli shrugged his shoulders.

"I can't be sures he knows, but she knows _you _quite well. I think she has known it for a few months now, as she always tries to cover up for you every time you disappear and people start wondering where you are.

Remus went silent; even if he knew Lily was kind and understanding, he would have never thought she would do something like that for him, and even less that she would still be his friend if she knew the secret, but she didn't seem to mind. She didn't mind he was a monster.

Eli appeared to read his mind.

"Becca wouldn't mind either." He said, and Lupin startled again, but said nothing, and Eli didn't insist.

"I jusy thought you should know, in case you needed to talk to anyone besides your friends…" he said "In case you wanted to talk to someone who has lived something like it. I know how you feel about those attacks, but you can't carry such a responsibility on your shoulders, Remus. You can't feel guilty for what other people with the same… problem do. What other werewolves do doesn't define who you are or should be."

"Thank you." He didn't say anything else, but Eli understood that Lupin was extremely grateful for his words.

They stood silent for a few minutes until Eli looked up and Remus saw sorrow in his clear eyes.

"Tell me… is it really that painful to transform?" It was hard for him to ask it, and Remus wondered if the boy had memories of his father's screams during a transformation; maybe the only one, if the Aurors had killed him shortly after he had been bitten. He supposed he didn't; he was too young to remember something like that; it was probable that, when he grew up, he had researched as much as he could about werewolves, tormenting himself with what had happened to his father. He would have wanted to lie, but he couldn't, not after how sincere the boy had been.

"Yes." He said, and forced himself to finish the sentence. "It's really painful" Eli nodded.

"Thank you." He said, and then looked at him in the eye again. "I'm really sorry, for real.

"I'm sorry too." Remus said. He was sorry for Eli, his father, and also for himself.

…

Sirius watched her fly and smiled. He was glad he had made her try out; she really seemed happy when she was in the air, with her curly hair to the wind, the tiny nose slightly red and the indelible smile. Her laughter filled the air and her large, dark blue eyes shone amused. He observed her for hours, thought they weren't enough.

It wasn't the first time that he found himself doing that; looking at her closely, memorizing the dimples that appeared on her face when she smiled, or the little wrinkles when she frowned or crinkled her nose; counting her eyelashes and thinking about her skin, her mouth, her curls. The weirdest thing was to notice he had always done that, but only now he realized about it, as he was permanently aware of what James had told him.

Could that be true? Him, Sirius Black, the self-denominated 'king of babes', was in love? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't find another answer. Why, if it wasn't for that, would he think about Bree every day, missing her voice and eyes, the warmth of her arms and smile? Why would he worry and watch over her? Why would he yearn for her company and words when she wasn't with him? And why would he wonder about the feel of her lips on his if it weren't because he loved her? He loved her, and not only as a friend.

When he was with her, Sirius was not only happy, but also a better person. He loved her and needed her; and only now he had understood it.

And if what James said was true, then she also loved him that way. But, was he good for Bree? Many would allege that he wasn't, that he would get tired of her just as he got tired of the rest, but Sirius knew that wouldn't happen, because she wasn't like the rest. However, it was true that Bree might end up with a broken heart, 'cause just like she had told him once, Sirius was a free spirit who had a hard time remaining tied to something. He knew he wouldn't feel tied to Bree if he were with her, but would he be able of giving her everything she needed and deserved? Probably not. And even if she loved him, that wouldn't be fair for her.

Besides, the truth was that the prospects Sirius had for his life weren't exactly tempting, and he had actually always seen himself alone, without a couple or a family. Now that he lived with James, his main goal was to get an apartment somewhere in London where he could live, and he really didn't have a clue about what he would do after school. His idea was to join the war against Voldemort in some way, and that didn't live much room for a happy love life.

The thread of his thoughts was broken when, as the training ended, Bree flew near him, intentionally disheveling his hair, and then turned around and stuck out her tongue at him as she approached to the changing rooms. Sirius blew her a kiss in the corniest way possible and yelled at her he would see her later.

No, he definitely wasn't the ideal candidate but, what if that didn't matter?

…

Sam was the last one to abandon the changing rooms, and concern could be read all over her face. She untidied her hair as she walked across the grounds with a slight frown, heading resolutely to the castle's covered bridge, where she knew he would be.

In any momento she had felt angry, betrayed or hurt by Eli's decision of not telling them before what he had revealed today; she understood and respected it, and she even believed she would have done the same thing if she were in the same situation. Even if she thought honesty was always the best way, she was also convinced that every person has their own to tell stuff like that, and they can choose to do it or not.

Anyway, she was glad that the Ravenclaw had trusted them with that; she felt closer to him now. But she was worried; if he had told them it was because everything that was going on in the magical world had brought those memories back and Sam didn't know how much harm they could do to him. Eli wasn't a vindictive person; she didn't think he would want to take revenge on Greyback or anything, so that wasn't a concern (like it would have been if the one involved would have been Sam herself), but the girl was afraid that her friend would let guilt crush him, even if that guilt shouldn't even be his.

When she reached the bridge she saw him there, leaning against the banister, his gaze lost in the landscape. She didn't make any noise as she got closer, but he turned his head and gave her a sad smile. The breeze messed up the boy's clear hair and untidied Samantha's black mane, and she fixed her chocolate eyes on the Ravenclaw's light blue lamps.

"Your perfume," said the boy, answering the question the girl hadn't asked. "The wind flooded my nose with it. I love it." He commented. Sam blushed and took the bangs out of he reyes, getting closer and leaning on the banister next to Eli, but looking at the landscape instead of looking at him. The boy, however, fixed his eyes on her profile.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Eli looked at the landscape again and then answered as honestly as always:

"I'm not sure. Maybe not really," He turned around and layed his back against the banister's Wood, and Sam shifted a little in order to look at his face. "I know you'll tell me it's not my fault, but I can't help wondering if it wouldn't have been better if thing had happened differently, y'know? That it would have been better if Greyback had bit me instead of my father. Everything would have been different.

"You can't know how things would have been, and there's no point in wondering about it, Eli. The only thing you do is hurting yourself. You should think about what your father would have wanted." Sam said softly.

"I don't know what he would have wanted," said Eli with sorrow. "I hadn't a chance to get to know him; it was taken away from me"

"Well I do know what he would have wanted. He saved you, didn't he? He put your life above his own, and he didn't do it for you to live blaming yourself. He loved you, and he would hate that you were unhappy for what he did." The girl said, taking his hand.

"I know, it's just-" Eli whispered with a lump in his throat "I can't help doing it. I blame me, Greyback, the Aurors…"

In an unusual gesture for her, Sam got closer and hugged him tightly, and Eli welcomed her holding her in his arms and sinking his face into her hair. She was extremely tall, but he was taller, and that hug seemed made to measure. After some minutes, Sam looked up to his eyes, and Eli rested his forehead on the Gryffindor's, closing his eyes. The girl leant a little and kissed him on the cheek, and she gelt the taste of the salty tears on her lips. He kissed her nose and she smiled a little, and Eli hugged her tighter, so much that Sam could feel his heartbeats. The boy felt the words going up his throat and slipping across his tongue to his lips, but they died there, and the '_I love _you' never reached Samantha's ears, as a black and loud owl interrupted that intimate moment.

"Stop screeching, Cobain!" Sam exclaimed, annoyed, pulling away from Eli and dragged the letter from the owl's claws. Eli chuckled and watched Sam open the letter and snort at the animal.

"It wasn't that urgent, bloody ball of feathers," she grunted, and then looked at Eli. "It's from Jonah, who's telling me how awesome the broomstick servicing kit you sent him for his birthday is."

Sam's little brother, whom next year would be starting his first one at Hogwarts, enjoyed Quidditch as much as his older sister, and got along great with Eli.

"About the chess set I've sent him, not a word." She said, both offended and amused.

"Of course he said something, there, he's thanking you in the p.s." The boy said, leaning to read the letter.

"Yeah, whatever; I'll answer later. Err, where were we?" THey both blushed when they remembered 'where they were', and before Eli could open his mouth to reply, someone called them:

"Hey! Have you heard the result of the last Ireland-Ethiopia match?" When they turned around, they met one of Ravenclaw's hefty beaters, who got along really well with Eli and Sam, and often looked for them to argue about a match. They both joined him in a lively conversation, forgetting the intense moment when they had both, at last, forgot their shyness.

If Becca would have witnessed that moment, she would have probably plucked Cobain and then used the feathers to cover Collins with them and tar for interrupting the hug, but luckily for the ones involved, none of that ever reached the blonde's ears.

…

Just as they had planned, James and Lily's demonstration that Monday was brilliant and left profesor Hopkins quite satisfied with his teaching methods, though the truth was that Potter's 'improvement' had nothing to do with them, but anyhow, he ended up announcing that everyone would keep the same partner throughout the year, given the fact that it seemed to be working.

Anyone would have thought that Lily would protest at the announcement, and maybe, weeks before, she would have, but the redhead didn't complai neither gave any signs of discomfort about it, wich made James smile from ear to ear, despite he was still in a huff by the fact Sirius and Lily were in a first name basis, which his friend hadn't stop reminding him all day long, making sure to call the redhead each time he could.

The class quickly went by, and Lily and her friends found themselves chatting animatedly with the marauders when the bell rang, except for Becca, who seemed surlier than usual. When they had left to their next lessons, the redhead noticed she hadn't her rucksack, and hurried to get it back in so she wouldn't be late for Arithmancy. When she left the classroom, her rucksack on her shoulder, she startled when she found James waiting right by the door.

"I thought I could walk you to class," the boy ssaid, messing up his hair, slightly embarrased, unable to find a believable excuse. Lily smiled.

"Thank you." They talked aboyt trivialties and only then the redhead noticed the weird interest that Potter seemed to have for her life and what she liked. She regretted answering some of his questions, but the boy's personality made her talk and trust him, even if that was the last thing she wanted to do. Thinking about it made her get surprised at how much her own attitude had changed in the last few weeks; from a loathing bordering on hatred to something that looked quite a lot like a friendship. But now she understood that last year's… incident didn't define Potter's personality. Yes, thinking about it still gave her a jab of anger and disappointment, but she had to recognize that the boy had proved to be different. Besides, Severus had hurt her too, and a lot, and she had always made excuses for him.

As if thinking about him had called him, right when they were about to arrive to the Arithmancy class, they almost bum pinto a skinny boy with greasy hair who gave them a withering look as soon as he recognised them. James saw something that looked like surprise and pain in those cold black eyes, but he gave no importance to it and pressed his wand, taking it out of his pocket. But before he could say anything, he saw the redhead walk in front of the Slytherin without even glancing at him. James threw the boy one last look of hatred, that he gave him back, and then followed the Gryffindor.

Once they were alone, James murmured:

"Stupid, repugnant serpent." Lily threw him a mean look.

"Why do you insult him?" she asked in a bad mood.

"Are you still standing up for him!?" James exclaimed with surprise, and the redhead's frown deepened.

"I'm not standing up for him!" She said, stopping walking.

"Good!" James seemed pissed off and Lily couldn't understand why. "Because he's a bloody, dark-arts lover Death Eater."

"Shut it, Potter, you know nothing!" Lily spat, raising her tone, annoyed by the way James was talking to her.

"What, it bothers you that I say the truth about your friend? Because that's what he is! You have said it yourself; you thinkmany Slytherins have already joined Voldemort, so stop cheating yourself, Evans, and stop believing what you want to believe. It's alright that you try to see the best of people; that's one of the things I like about you, but Snape ain't who you wanna believe he is." James got angrier as he talked, and his words enormously irritated the redhead; maybe because he was partly right.

"You know nothing about Snape!" she answered, yelling now.

"It's you who should know it better than I!" the boy replied, yelling too "He's said…he has called you- he has insulted you in the worst possible way, and in front of the whole school! And, by the way, with that he stated in front of everyone what's his opinion about all the bullshit Voldemort says! And you still stand up for him?"

"You know nothing 'bout what he has had t olive! You think he's had an easy life? And if that wasn't enough, you tormented him every day at the castle!" she couldn't help throwing that in his face "It's not his fault that- His family-"

"A hard life?" James asked with a hurtful irony "I may know nothing of Snape's life, but remember Sirius' my best friend. He also has had a hard life, and he has been raised in a house of lunatics, but he hasn't turned into one! It was _his_ choice, and Snape has decided too."

That was what hurt the most, because that was the most truthful thing he had said until now. Lily didn't reply, but James was so angry, he kept talking.

"I'd bet anything that he already has a Dark Mark burning his arm, and if he doesn't, soon he willyou're your friend-"

"He isn't my friend!" the redhead yelled

"Fine!"

"And anyway, what do you care if I spend my spare time polishing my nails with Snape or playing house with Avery? That's my problem!" she replied, raising her tone as she spoke.

"I care 'cause I worry about you, it's about time that you notice it already!" He screamed, and left Lily mute out of surprise. Mute, but angry, the redhead folded her arms and the boy looked at her with a very deep scowl, mad as well. They looked at each other for a while, and then turned around, heading to opposite directions.

…

**Answers to reviews:**

**-Guest from ch 13**: I'm so glad to hear it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well,and thank you very much for commenting!

-**Dwelling in my dreams**: Thank you! And I'll try! Hope you enjoy this one

-**Jimmielee**: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and sorry I'm updating a tad late, I've been on holiday and away from internet and computers! Hope you're still there reading! And I'm glad you liked how Sirius talked to Lily, I've always thought those two probably got along pretty well in their own way, and that Sirius probably had something to do with Lily giving James a chance. Thank you for your review!

-**Longbottom**: I'm glad you like the story, and thank you very much for the suggestion! I've actually thought of that, but I couldn't find anyone willing to read and correct the English version of the story… I sometimes read old chapters again and correct the mistakes I can spot (the typo ones, the grammar ones I made by accident and the ones I made and didn't know were incorrect), but there are many mistakes I miss or I don't even know are wrong, so I never get to fully correct the story, which kinda sucks. And I'm not discouraged at all by your review! I appreciate a lot suggestions and constructive criticism :) So thank you! And thank you for taking your time to read and review this.

-**Guest from ch 32**: Thank you! I'm really glad, hope you enjoyed this one!


	34. Chapter 34: Kisses and firewhiskey

**_Well, I'll have to stop making promises… another week without an update. I know it's awful when you're reading a fic and the author doesn't update very often, but the truth is that it is hard to keep up with a longfic, especially if you don't want to compromise the quality, and if you add to it the literary blocking and other stuff (As my recent obsession with V. Roth's Divergent). Well, I hope at least this chapter is worth the wait, I tried to make it a tad longer_**

**_(A little detail: I took the liberty of changing the order of the Quidditch matches: Gryffindor-Ravenclaw is one of the first ones, while in the books it's the last one of the season, but I needed it to be the first for plot reasons, and the change isn't that big, especially considering that we can't know if the matches were scheduled the same way back then)_**

It wasn't a surprise for anyone that, during the following week, Lily made everything she could to avoid James, ignoring him and scowling every time they were forced to be together; after all, the redhead had always claimed her supposed hatred for the boy, and everyone had thought that the past days of nice words and smiles were just some kind of 'truce'. But what had actually been a surprise was that Potter was just as mad at her, and he hadn't even told his friends what they had argued aboyt; he just folded his arms and pressed his lips every time the redhead appeared, which complicated the relationship between the two gangs, especially considering that Remus tried to dissappear each time he got a glipse of a blonde mane. They were lucky that Sirius, Eli, Sam and Bree still got along perfectly with everyone and cheered everybody up with their good mood – well, maybe that last part didn't apply to Sam, bute ven being grumpy she was more talkative than Lily or James lately.

However, the biggest surprise of them all came almost two weeks later when, before the Defense lesson, Lily dropped a pile of books next to James' desk to attract his attention. The boy looked up, and for a second opened his eyes with surprise, but his expression quickly shifted to anger, with a slight frown and a tight mouth.

"Listen," said Lily, and it looked as if they were ripping the words off her mouth with a great effort. "I'm sorry."

Well, that James wasn't expecting.

The redhead ignored the boy's surprised expression and shifted her weight. She was quite uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"I'm sorry I was rude to you, and I'm sorry I yelled," Potter seemed about to interrupt her, but the look she threw at him made him desist. "It wasn't fair and I shouldn't have done it. Especially since you were right." Even though it was hard for her to say it, it was clear that she took a load off her chest when she did it, sighing relieved once she was done talking and letting herself fall into the chair next to the boy without looking at him.

James smiled a little, watching her profile.

"I'm sorry too," he said, and Lily turned her head to look at him "It's just that… the sight of him makes me sick, and the fact that you stood up for him… I lost it. I shouldn't have. Even if what I said were true, I don't know your history with Snape and I… I should have had more tact. I'm sorry."

He looked at his hands, embarrased, but when she didn't say anything, he looked up again and met her large green eyes. Lily smiled a little, timidly, and James smiled back.

"Well, at the end of the day, Lily the prefect has been able to swallow her pride, huh?" Any other time, she would have gotten mad, but she knew he was joking, so she laughed, hitting his shoulder with her fist.

"Oh, shut it, Potter."

"Come on, you know you're my favorite prefect," he said, smiling. "At least now I know you don't think I'm that bad."

Lily rolled her eyes and didn't answer, looking to the front, as the profesor had just arrived.

The truth was that even though Lily had been really angry at Potter those past two weeks, she also knew that, partly, the argument had been her fault, and that bothered her. She couldn't even hate him in peace now! But deep inside she knew she didn't even want to hate him. Actually, she missed him a little, and the fact that the boy was mad at her didn't make her feel alright at all. Besides, he hadn't lied; yes, he had said it too harshly, and with too much hatred against Snape, but he had been right. Lily and Severus had been friends. Severus had befriended the worst possible lot of people. Severus had insulted Lily, making clear what he thought of Voldemort. Severus had made a choice, and Lily couldn't blame James for saying so.

She was relieved now that she had apologized to James and, to be completely honest, she was also happy she could talk normally with him again. Even if she lied to herself by saying she was glad that everything when back to normal between her friends and the marauders, deep inside she knew the truth. Maybe she would even let him call her Lily…

They didn't talk much during the class, but they laughed a lot, and the conversation felt completely natural. When they went out, each one heading to a different class, James waited until his friends had already left to tell her, looking at her in the eye:

"I'm glad we're friends again, Lily. I've missed you." And he kissed he ron the cheek.

The redhead just stood there for a few minutes, even though it felt like an eternity to her. She couldn't tell if she was more surprised because of what he had said, because of the kiss, or because he hadn't asked her out, as he always did.

Could it be that James Potter had already matured?

…

Rebecca went down the stone steps with a slight frown, taking her abundant hair out of her face with one hand when the wind disheveled it. She walked across the grounds, thinking, and the cold breeze filled he reyes with tears. She covered her nose with her scarf and kept walking aimlessly; she didn't like spending too much time on her own, but these last few weeks she had been more introverted. At first, it had been because of Remus' rejection, not because of the rejection itself; Rebecca wasn't an insecure girl at all, and a rejection, as unusual as it might be, couldn't harm her self esteem, and even though she fancied the Gryffindor much more than any other boy she had dated, it wouldn't have hurt if he wouldn't have been into her. What had hurt was his sudden change of attitude; from one day to the next, he had stopped laughing and flirting with her, and had just started ignoring her completely, treating her with indifference when they had no choice but to interact.

Anyway, she hadn't had much time to worry about it or find out what was going on, because then Eli had let out that bomb. The truth was that the blonde had felt hurt, maybe a little betrayed because he hadn't told her before. For years, he had kept such an important secret; didn't he trust her enough? Eli had tried to explain it to her that day, later at the Common Room, but Becca had smiled as always, telling him he had nothing to explain, that she understood him, and they hadn't talked about it since then, though they had drifted apart a little on those weeks. Well, the truth was that she didn't understand him, at least not back then. She thought on what she would have done, and she was sure she would have told him about it in some point of that ten years of friendship. Only now it had occurred to her that that was what _she_ would have done, but Eli's personality was completely different.

She hadn't been completely fair with him, feeling betrayed by something like that… She had no reason to; Eli had always been a loyal friend, being always there for her when she needed him. She had been there for him too… except this one time, maybe when he needed her the most. If he hadn't told her before it was because he wasn't ready. She should have understood it… She needed to talk to him.

She turned around and headed back to the castle, because that's how Becca was: resolved and straightforward; when a problema needed to be solved, she acted. And that was what she would do with Remus too; she would look for him and she would demand and explanation. She didn't want to be mad at him either without knowing why he had stopped talking to her… maybe it had to do with his mother's disease, or with his own health. Maybe he had gotten bad news?

The wind swept along a newspaper leaf, tangling it between her legs, and the blonde bent down, tucking her hair behind her ears with one hand and taking the _Daily Prophet's _leaf with the other one. Before crumpling it up, she absently glanced at it, and her eyes fixed on a headline she already knew: "_Brutal mass murder: the werewolves join He-who-must-not-be-named_". She was about to throw it away, but her eyes danced for a few seconds around the word "werewolves", and then stopped on an illustrative photo of a werewolf howling at the moon, and only then her neurons seemed to click.

Memories of pieces of conversations followed one another, dazing her, and images mixed together, impeding her from thinking clearly, but at the same time, joining together without any help as if they were a puzzle: all the pieces were stored in her mind, but she hadn't known how to make them fit.

A scratched face.

_"No monsters, vampires or werewolves?" _The shadow of a smile, mysterious, but sad. "_I'm not really into all that monsters stuff"_

The sudden dissappearances. The unexplainable grimaces of pain.

His sharp sense of smell.

The sudden stiffness that invaded him when he talked about his secrets or his health. _"I've been…sick"_

A clear but sunless sky; the half moon almost transparent, waiting for the night to arrive; the chocolate cake still resting on their plates, and her own voice _"I love staring at the moon. It's so…soothing." _Remus' grimace when he answered _"I can't say I'm a big fan of the moon."_

His uneasiness as they talked about the attacks.

Again, his scratched face.

Remus was a werewolf.

…

"How am I supposed to know that?" Peter was asking, scowling at his failed Charms' essay. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I believe you haven't quite understood the concept of homework, Wormtail," he said, and James laughed. "You're supposed to do some research, not just jot down the first think that pops into your head."

"Anyway, you could've asked us," James said "Padfoot and I can do Flitwick's homework blindfolded." Now it was Remus' turn to roll his eyes: eradicating entirely the arrogance of those two was impossible.

"Or you could've just asked Moony to do it for you," Sirius added, absently waving his wand and making butterflies come out of the fifth-year prefect's ears.

"You really had to do that?" Remus asked, but he couldn't help laughing. Sometimes it was easy to forget you're a prefect when you're with your friends.

"You could've made them nicer," Sirius commented, and Peter laughed. Remus looked at the boy out of the corner of his eye (who, after realizing what was going on, had started gathering his belongings to rush to the Hospital), and carelessly waved his wand.

"That's what I was talking about," Said Sirius when the butterflies turned bigger and much more colourful, and then burst out laughing as the rest of his friends. The prefect looked daggers at them but said nothing: he didn't want to be victim of a worse prank.

"I'd like to think," said a voice behind them "That you weren't the ones who sent poor Wilmut to the Hospital Wing." She had sounded reproachful, but when they turned around, they saw Lily was smiling.

"Technically, we didn't send him there," Said James, messing up his hair and smiling at the redhead. Lily pulled a skepticall grimace.

"He just looked so sad sitting there with his homework that he thought it'd ben ice to cheer his day." Sirius added with a dazzling smile.

Lily laughed, shaking her haid and falling on the sofá between Remus and Sirius, sighing.

"I thought you were gonna tell us off," Peter squealed, and Lily looked at him with an eyebrow raised and a smile.

"I should. And take a couple or three points from Gryffindor. In fact, Remus, you should've done it." She said, and Remus gave her an innocent smile. Sirius wrapped his arm around her shoulders and said, moving her closer to him:

"Oh, redhead, it's 'cause of stuff like that one that I refuse each time you ask me into your bed. Your obsession with rules definitely turns me off."

James threw an ink bottle at Sirius with all his might, but he caught i ton the fly and stuck his tongue out at him without letting Lily go, who had laughed at the comment without even noticing the object that had been about to get embeded into the boy's forehead.

"Well, you don't turn me on at _all, _Black, so you don't really have to worry about it." The redhead replied, smiling with fake innocence. Sirius looked offended.

"_Please_, Evans, even Wormtail gets turne don by me." He said, and Remus, James and Lily laughed so hard that Sirius had to pat the lycantrope's back till he stopped coughing: laughing while you eat chocolate frogs isn't really a good idea. Peter scowled at the boy, red to the roots of his hair, and Lily took pity on him and said:

"Don't worry, Wormy, I know the one that keeps a photo of Sirius under his pillow is himself, not you." She managed to make him smile, and Sirius gave her a dirty look, removing his arm from her shoulders and then looking at James like a kid about to throw a tantrum.

"I don't want her," he said, childishly pushing her towards Remus "She's faulty, I want another redhead."

"But Padfoot, you were the one who wanted to adopt her," James said like a condescending father "You see? That's why I didn't want to buy you a dog; you get bored of your toys too easily"

Everyone laughed, and Sirius, still in the role of spoiled brat, grabbed Lily (who was still cackling) by her arms and pushed her almost effortlessly towards James' lap.

"Then you play with her, I don't want her anymore."

It was hard to tell who was redder, if James or Lily, but they both definitely beat the girl's hair. Potter tried to say something, but he choked with his words and an uncomfortably cleared his throat, and for some reason, Lily didn't stood up, but Remus broke the tension by grabbing her arm and pulling her to her place, putting an arm around her shoulders and saying:

"Well if you don't want her, I'll keep her, Sirius."

"No! I changed my mind; I want her back," the boy said, pulling the redhead's arm. Everyone laughed again, forgetting the sudden and brief uncomfortable moment.

"You're a child, Padfoot." James said, rolling his eyes and smiling, even though his face hadn't yet recovered its natural colour.

"Where's the rest?" Remus asked, letting the redhead go: He didn't want James to throw an ink bottle at him, or something worse.

"Sam and Eli, together somewhere, refusing to admit they're head over heals for each other," Lily answered listing with her fingers. "Bree's training. By the way, could you tell her to relax a little? She seems about to suffer a nervous breakdown, and when she isn't studying, she trains." She added, addressing James.

"She'll be fine after the first match," he calmed her, and Lily kept saying:

"And Becca, I have no idea where she is." She watched Lupin as she said so, but the boy's face remained expressionless; so expressionless that Lily knew he was hiding his actual feelings. However, before the redhead could look into it, an owl entered through the open window and lande don Lily's lap, pecking at her fingers so she opened the letter.

"I loathe you, you bloody, awful bird." She grunted shooing her away.

"Can't blame her; she has a bad-tempered owner who has murderous instincts." Sirius said, and the redhead threw him a dirty look.

"Not my fault, she hates everyone." She replied.

"Well I think she gets on quite well with Prongs." Remus added, looking at the dark-haired boy. The owl had flown straight at him and was letting him stroke her, hooting happily. Lily frowned, but said, as she opened the letter:

"They both enjoy making me mad, it's normal that they get along."

Lily smiled when she recognized her mother's handwriting, and James watched her with affection, seeing her go from a smile, to a surprised expression, and then to quite a funny face that turned out to be a failed attempt to supress the guffaw that went up her throat.

"What is it?" James asked, unable to contain his curiosity. He didn't think she would answer, but she did:

"Letter from my mother," she said, folding it and leaving it aside.

"Seems like she tells some good jokes," Sirius said, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"It's just that apparently my sister has, uhm, a boyfriend." She said.

_"That's why she was so surprised" _James thought, trying to guess what was going on in the girl's head.

"And how's that funny?" Sirius asked, and Lily shook her head.

"Oh, no, it's not funny at all; only unexpected. Petunia is…" She looked for the proper word. "Not exactly sociable, and she had just gotten this job, it surprises me that she was made uhm… such close friends so soon."

James made an effort not to roll his eyes; Lily had been more than benevolent in the description of her sister; more than unsociable, she was bitter and resentful, but of course, the redhead would never say so; she only saw the good things in people. Except, maybe, in him.

"Will you make us beg to tell us why were you laughing?" Sirius spat, and the redhead stuck out her tongue at himbefore saying:

"It's nothing, only that mum met Vernon yesterday," She smiled and her eyes shone naughtily "She says he's just as funny as watching grass grow, and that she'd have rather spent the afternoon ripping her eyelashes off with tweezers than with him. And my mother is so adorable that she can bear almost everyone, and she never speaks badly of anyone."

The rest of them laughed and chatted for a while, and only when it started to get dark, Remus stood up, murmuring he wanted to go for a walk.

"Remus!" Lily called him before he went through the portait. He turned around and looked at her

"Yeah?"

"I'd drop by the Astronomy Tower if I were you," she answered, looking at him meaningfully "Nice place to 'go for a walk'."

Remus forced a smile and left, nodding at Bree, who had arrived with her cheeks pink, her hair tangled and a broom in her hand.

He knew she had suggested the Astronomy Tower because she supposed that was where Becca would be, although he wasn't sure if he wanted to see her. He didn't know if Lily had assumed he did, or if she had meant to tell him that he should, but no matter which the answer was, Remus still had no idea of what to do.

The truth was that he needed that "walk" in order to think; in first place, about the attacks… though maybe it would be better if he talked about it with Eli, he might understand him better than any other. Secondly, he had his lycanthropy, which always seemed to come back to haunt him. It didn't matter that his friends had already accepted him, it didn't matter that they had even transformed his full moons into something enjoyable, and it didn't matter that other people, like Eli or Lily, knew about his condition and didn't reject him. He was still a werewolf and he couldn't change it. Even if he forgot the guilt that invaded him when he thought about all he did with his friends every time he transformed, escaping and betraying the Headmaster; he still had the problem of his future, and that's where Rebecca entered the equation. Partly, he had drifted away from her because he didn't want to face her rejection when she knew about his condition, but partly, he had drifted away because he knew that even if that worked, it didn't have a future. Remus had no future other than loneliness.

He gave a start when he noticed he was standing right in front of the Astronomy Tower's staircase; he didn't remember deciding to go there, but apparently his feet had chosen for him.

He knew what he had to do: Face Becca, give an explanation… but he wasn't brave enough. He couldn't imagine himself standing there in front of her and telling her that he was a werewolf, and then waiting for her reaction. He had never had to do a confession like that one before; all the people who knew had found it out by themselves. Maybe it was time for him to do it, to get over it. But did he really want to see the repulsion and terror in those exotic and beautiful catlike eyes?

Definitely not.

Though maybe there was another possibility; the chance that she accepted him. It was unthinkable but… hadn't his friends accepted him; hadn't Eli and, if the Ravenclaw was correct, hadn't Lily? Maybe she would too. That's what Eli had assured him.

Maybe ut was a risk he had to take. Although, what for? Even if she didn't reject him, that didn't mean he was free to be with her; he couldn't do that, letting her build sand castles before facing the harsh reality when she realized what it meant to share her life with a lycanthrope.

He thought about it for a while, and it was hard for him to admit that actually, even that thought had a selfish motive behind. He wasn't as worried about Rebecca realizing she hadn't chose the life she would have liked to have as he was worried about the fact that it would be harder, more painful for him that way; because he would be the one building sand castles if he was with her.

Maybe he was over thinking it. He couldn't really know if Rebecca wanted something more than a teenage fling. But he couldn't take the risk. He didn't want to.

But he had to.

He opened the Tower's door without taking a decision. He would look at her in the eye, and he would tell her whatever felt adequate right then. Sometimes Sirius was right, we shouldn't think about it that much. He would tell her …

Except she wasn't there. He had thought so much about what to say that it hadn't came to his mind that he actually didn't know where she was. He entered anyway and looked around, as if he was expecting the blonde to materialize there, or to be hiding behind a stone from the wall. What an idiot.

He approached the window and looked out. It wasn't completely dark yet, but when he looked up, he saw the moon, thin and shiny. He still had a few weeks before the full moon.

Then he heard a weird noise, something in between an exclamation and a sob, and when he turned around, he saw her tehre, standing by the door with her blonde hair tangled, her robes crooked and her left hand tightly holding something that looked like a piece of parchment. He looked at her in the eye and was surprised to see her face was wet because of the tears, and her eyes and nose were red and swollen. Rebecca never cried.

He was about to approach her, but he changed his mind at the last minute, raising an arm halfway and puting it down again. He wanted to hug her, but he probably was the last person she would want to see. At least he should ask her what was wrong, or if he could do something for her. However, when he opened his mouth, the words that tumbled out were others:

"I'm a werewolf." She didn't even blink, but he could see something in her eyes, though it didn't look like surprise nor terror. The girl dried her cheek with the robes' sleeve without looking away from him, and after a silence that seemed to last decades, she said:

"Why didn't you tell me?" She choked with the words, making it hard to recognize the emotion soaking them. For a moment, Remus thought she was mad, but then she seemed hurt, and finally, honestly intrigued. The truth was that what happened to Rebecca couldn't be reduced to a single emotion, nor be classified with a simple word.

When she had understood it, her mind had went blank, and she had just stood there for a few seconds, almost relieved or satisfied because the pieces had fit in at last. She didn't find weird the fact that she wasn't scare, but it was strange to realize she wasn't surprised; as if, deep inside, she ahd always known, or as if that answer was the only logical solution to the enigma that the quiet boy with honey eyes was.

When she thought about it, she had felt sad, sad because of the life he didn't deserve, but had to bear. Then her eyes had been soaked with tears as she suffered for the boy, for his pain, for the load and the secret he had on his back.

Then she had felt hurt, wounded by the fact the boy hadn't been able of trusting her. It was true that they hadn't known each other for that long, but she had believed they had some sort of special connection. He should have told her.

Then she was overwhelmed by rage. Why hadn't he told her? She could have helped him! She could have supported him! She was his friend!

Anger had suddenlt left, being replaced by helplessness, by anger against herself. How hadn't she noticed? She had been so blind! It was completely understandable that he hadn't told her, but she should have seen it. She had been so stupid! She had to talk to him …

Except that Remus didn't talk to her. Rebecca was mad again, but for a completely different reason this time, and it was then when her thoughts mixed up, all of her emotions burst together, and the only thing she could do was running to the Astronomy Tower.

She didn't know what she would do once she was there, but it definitely hadn't occured to her that she would meet him there. She looked at him, her emotions spilling over her eyes in the shape of tears, her mind quiet again.

And then he let out the truth, and the only thing her mind was able to tack was the question she ahd repeated to herself over and over again, each time dyed in a different feeling.

Remus looked at he as if he was trying to figure out the reason of her crying, or as if he was wondering why she wasn't surprised.

"Did Eli tell you?" The boy asked. His mind was a mess, and of all the things he could have said, that was the only thing he was able to articulate.

The blonde frowned.

"Eli knew?" she asked, and the boy nodded. Rebecca smiled sadly.

"Why doesn't it surprise me?" she said bitterly.

Despite she was crying and despite it was clear she was suffering, Remus felt the knot in his chest loosening a little: she didn't fear him. She… accepted him?

"I…" he begun to say, unsure of where to start. "I hadn't told anyone before."

For some reason, Rebecca was calm. Maybe because she had cried so much, or maybe because Remus knew she knew his secret.

"What about your friends?" Becca asked, but she got it before the boy could answer "They found out on their own, like Eli did," Remus nodded and the blonde mimicked him, and then gave him a tiny smile. Despite everything, she could understand what it had meant to Remus to tell her that: even though she already knew it, Remus had told her the truth before she could ask about it, and it had required a great deal of courage to do so. Maybe he did care for her after all, even if he hadn't trusted her before. However, why was he telling her now? It had something to do with the fact he had started ignoring her?

She remembered the reason she was mad at Remus in the first place, even before she knew his secret, and she frowned a little, stepping closer to him.

"You're wondering why I'm crying," she stated, and the boy nodded, licking his dry lips. "You really don't see it?" she asked with a sad smile on her lips and a joyless laughter.

"Remus, I care about you. A lot. You can't imagine how many things were going on in my mind when I found out, just a moment ago," she said, looking at the piece of newspaper she was still holding, so crumpled it was impossible to know what it was anymore "Or how many things I _felt. _But what beat any other emotion, any other thought was knowing that you were in pain, and that I couldn't do anything to stop it."

The boy looked at her, speechless, a lump in his throat. Knowing that Becca felt that way about him made him feel special, loved. The most he could have wished for was that she wouldn't hate him, or fear hi, but she ahd given him mucho more than that. She didn't hate him, she didn't fear him; but she not only accepted him. She worried about him, she cried for him, she suffered for him. She cared about him.

"I'm not gonna get mad at you for not telling me," she said when he didn't say anything, her voice still full of tears. "At first I did, but not anymore, now I get it. Is that why you drifted away from me?" she asked, looking at him, hurt "Did you really believe I would reject you for being what you are?"

"I didn't want to see the expression on your face," he answered, licking his lips again. "I didn't want to see fear, or hatred." She closed he reyes, smiled, and shook her head.

"Oh, Remus, do you really believe I'm that closed-minded? Maybe if I had found out years before, when I was like twelve, I would have been scared at first, as any child but- The truth is that it hurts a little to know you thought that about me."

Remus got closer to her and shyly dried her tears, almost fearfully, as if he was still afraid she would move away, repelled.

"It's not you," he said, shaking his head "It's me. I thought that of you, of my friends, of anyone. It's still hard understand that not everyone see me as a monster."

Rebecca smiled a little

"You are not"

"I'm not that sure"

The girl moved near him and extended an arm, caressing with her finger the almost invisible scars that crossed the side of his face. She stopped and pressed her palm against his cheek, and Remus closed his eyes and leant his head against it.

"You are not." She repeated.

A flowery scent filled his nose, and Remus opened his eyes to realize those beautiful brown eyes were closer than he thought.

But her mouth wasn't close enough.

Remus leant his head and kissed her, at first gently, but then with hunger, with desire, and the blonde wrapped her arms around the boy's neck while he took her face into his hands, their bodies so close together that they were only one.

"Rebecca…" Remus got to murmure against her mouth; his mind telling him to stop, but his hands and lips trying to get her even closer. "Rebecca, that's not the only reason I had drifted away from you."

He had to tell her, he had to tell her she couldn't expect a future with him. But he didn't feel capable of removing his mouth from her lips, of taking his hands off her back, of moving his body away from hers.

The girl's lips abandoned his own for a second and got closer to his ear, kissing his lobe before murmuring against the hot skin of his neck "I don't care."

…

"Where the hell had you been?" James asked, jumping off his bed as soon as Remus opened the bedroom door. "We had to get that stupid map done already, we didn't know where were you!"

"Look what you do to your poor mother," Sirius joked from his bed, but then his voice went serious and he sat on his bed, groping his nighttable fo his wand. "We were worried. Where did you - ?"

When he turned the light son, Sirius saw him and stopped talking, his eyes wide open.

"You shagged someone!" he yelled, sounding proud, accusing, and amused.

James put his glasses on and when he saw him, he seemed to struggle between anger and laughter. Remus' hair was completely untamed, his neck was red and his lips irritated, and his robes were so crooked that it would have been less obvious if he had arrived in his underwear.

"You're an idiot, Moony, you could have at least _informed _us." James scolded him, letting himself fall into the bed again.

"Did you shag someone?" a sleepy Peter asked.

"Of course he shagged someone! Just look at him," Sirius answered, cackling and laying down again.

Remus had de decency of not denying it, and a half smile flickered across his lips as he took off his clothes and jumped into the bed.

"Who was it?" Sirius asked, but it was James the one to answer.

"Not very bright, are you? It's obvious it was Moon." Remus didn't try to speak, but even if he had , Sirius wouldn't have heard him.

"That blonde nutter? Are you mental?" he yelled "I mean, she really is fit, but she's completely unbalanced."

"Shut up, Sirius." His words were accompanied by a pillow that hurt more than it would have if it had been thrown by someone who wasn't a lycanthrope.

"She knows." He said. Silence was only broken by Peter's squeal.

"Can't say I'm surprised," said James "Soon or later, she was going to find out. Rivers knew it too, and you've already said you believe Lily has found it out."

"I looked for her to tell her, but she had already figured it out. He talked and-"

"You shagged her"

"Shut it, Sirius!" the other three said in unison, and Remus continued:

"We talked, and then we kissed and… I tried to tell her that the fact that she accepted me doesn't mean -"

"Oh, Merlin, not again," James sighed

"Anyhow, she wouldn't listen, and I, err- I didn't insist that much." He kept explaining, and Sirius chuckled "I don't know how we left the Astronomy Tower, I think we were planning to go back to our Common Rooms, but we ended up at the Room of Requirement."

"The Room of Requirement?" Peter inquired, interrupted him "What were you looking for there?"

James and Sirius rolled their eyes and Remus held a guffaw.

"When a boy and a girl love each other…" Sirius begun saying, and James roared with laughter.

"Ohhhh" Wormtail exclaimed, understanding it at last, and he could only laugh with his friends.

"So, you slept with her," James said, raising his eyebrows. Remus' ears went red "And very wisely, you considered it would be better to go back to your Common Rooms."

"Oh, look at you, all grown up, ickle Remsie!"

Sirius definitely had a problem with remaining serious for too long.

…

"C'me on, wake up, it's tomorrow already," Each word coming out of Sam's mouth was accompanied with a pillow hit, and only when she saw her messy red head coming out of the blankets, she walked away towards Bree's bed.

"I'm tiiiiiired," Lily complained, lying down again and puting her pillo won her head. Bree groaned and Sam yawned before telling her:

"As a prefect, you're supposed to be responsible and give an example." The redhead gave her a withering look but stood up, dragging her feet towards the bathroom.

The night before they had chatted with the marauders until dawn, which hadn't been a good idea considering that they had early lessons the following day.

They went down the stairs yawning, and when they arrived at the Common Room they found the Marauders in the exact same deplorable conditions. They greeted each other nodding, so sleepy that they couldn't articulate a coherent sentence, and Sam dragged herself to the announcements board, and then murmured:

"Nothing important, it's just about Hallowe'en."

"As long as it's not another ball…" Lily grunted, and everyone smiled. Sam shook her head.

"They are just calling of the visit to Hogsmeade for safety issues."

"It was to be expected," Lupin commented while they all went through the hole. Then, the girls seemed to notice he was there, and looked at him frowning.

"You weren't with us last night," Bree said, suspiciously narrowing he reyes. Remus' ears went red and James chuckled.

"Where were you?" Lily asked, and Remus cleared his throat.

"Forget it, you'll find out later," Sirius said, and as they didn't have the energy to argue, they agreed without complaining.

They didn't have to wait much to find out the answer, because when they arrived at the Great Hall, they found a sleepy Rebecca going down the stairs, dragged by a moody Eli, who, at the sight of Remus, pointed at him with an accusing finger.

"You and I have to talk, Lupin," he said, and the boy swallowed, making his friends laugh. "It's not funny," Eli spat in a huff: it was clear that he could use some more sleeping time too. "Next time bring her back at a decent hour."

When they understood what he was implying, the girls turned to Becca, who ignored them, rolling he reyes and addressing Remus:

"May I talk to you?"

"No, you may not." Eli answered, making everyone laugh again. Everyone except for Remus.

"Sometimes you are honestly endearing, did you know that?" she said, getting rid of his arm and taking Remus' hand, dragging him far from there.

"She's just a baby! Don't deprave her!" The Ravenclaw yelled as they walked away, ignoring his friends' laughter.

"Oh, I would be more worried about _her _depraving _him"_ Sirius added, entering the Great Hall.

…

Once alone, Rebecca smiled at Remus, who seemed more shy than usual.

"I just wanted to tell you that I understand that, uhm, we're not exactly dating in a very real sense," she said, startling him, but also relieving him a little. "I mean, I still believe I'm in love with you,"

Remus smiled; he admired her easiness to talk about her feelings.

"But I understand that we've, uhm, hurried things a little. Er, the moment…"

"Yeah, what we talked about…our feelings, hum, they made us rush things. I understand, and I agree," he said. Becca smiled with relief; she was afraid he would misunderstand her.

"I mean, it's not that now we have to walk around Hogwarts holding hands," she kept saying "But I would like to see where this is going. I really fancy you, Moony."

"I'd like that too," he replied, smiling and approaching to her "I fancy you a lot too."

He kissed her sweetly on the lips and she smiled, pulling away with a radiant smile.

"Should w ego back to the Great Hall? Before they start wondering where we are." Lupin said, and she let out a musical guffaw.

"Don't tell me Eli has ended up scaring you."

"In fact, he did," Remus said, puting his arm around her waist and walking towards the hall.

When they entered, Rebecca headed to the Ravenclaw table, but Remus went to seat with his friends, who were embarked in a conversation with Lily and the rest.

"Hurry up, Remus," called him Sirius as soon as he saw him "You'll have time to snog the psycho later, we need to decide what prank we're gonna pull for the Hallowe'en feast."

The lycanthrope joined the peculiar gang. Who would have said, years before, that they would end up being so close friends?

October went by, and that Hallowe'en was one of the happier and funnier they all had had in years. How could they know it was going to be one of the last ones they could enjoy?

…

November arrived, and with it, Quidditch season, and thus, the opportunity to proove that Bree's nervousness was completely unfounded.

The first match of the year, Gryffindor-Ravenclaw, was one of the most expected ones, as they were the best teams Hogwarts had had in ages.

"Wish me luck, Lily!" James yelles as he ran to the dressing rooms. The girl rolled her eyes but smiled, sitting on the bleachers with the marauders and Rebecca.

At first the match was quite hard-fought, but the snitch wouldn't appear, and Ravenclaw was now on the lead, 30 points ahead of them. The Ravenclaws screamed happily and the Gryffindors cried out desperately, bute ven though their chasers were excellent, Eli was a first-order keeper and he managed to stop all the quaffles threatening their position.

Bree scored and the Gryffindors cheered fervently. Only 20 points below them.

The Gryffindors took possession of the ball again and Sam, quaffle in hand, nimbly flew towards the posts, where Eli watcher her carefully trying to guess her intentions.

Then, it all happened too fast: Sam, instead of aiming to the rings, dropped the ball to Bree, who was below her, flying towards the left ring, movement that went unnoticed to the students, as the Gryffindor seeker went into a nosedive. While Bree scored a goal Eli couldn't stop, Grint caught the snitch, but right when the ball was going through the ring, a bludger sent by a Ravenclaw beater brushed Sam's ear and hit Eli right on his stomach. The spectatora held their breath, and the keeper fell.

On the bleachers, Lily and Rebecca screamed, but Sam hadno time to do so. Without giving it a second thought, she flew towards the falling boy, and right when both her and him were about to crash, she managed to catch him only a few feet from the floor, losing balance and rolling on the grass with him.

"Eli!?" Sam yelled, standing up and approaching to the boy, who laid face up on the grass.

The rest of the players went down to earth and begun running towards them, and Madame Hooch did the same.

"Sam?" His voice was weak, but when he opened his eyes, Eli smiled and sat up a little

"Are you alright?" Her concern was almost palpable, but the boy smiled again and she softly took his hair out of his eyes.

"I worried you, huh?" Sam rolled her eyes and hugged his painful body, laughing in his ear with relief. "Maybe I should make you worry more often." He murmured against her hair, and Sam laughed again, pulling apart only enough to say, not without exasperation:

"For Merlin's sake, Eli, are you gonna kiss me or not?"

It was a soft, sweet kiss, and when they drew apart, their breaths turned into one, they both laughed happily, and even though the two teams had arrived next to them and were surrounding them, even though the entire school was watching from the bleachers, Sam leant to his lips again.

…

"Well, we can't say those two don't know how to celebrate," Sirius commented with a chuckle when Lily and Bree arrived at the chaotic Common Room (where they were celebrating the victory) after leaving Eli and Sam at the Hospital Wing.

"And Remus and Becca don't stay behind," Lily added, sitting next to Sirius and taking a bottle of butterbeer that the marauders had smuggled from Hogsmeade.

"Where did they go?" Peter asked, sitting on the floor. Lily smiled at him: sometimes he was either too innocent or too dumb.

"Uhm, I think Rebecca had to, err, pay a bet to Remus, y'know, because of Gryffindor's victory," Bree answered, sitting at Sirius' left.

"You're adorable when you turn all red." The boy said, kissing her on the cheek. "You were awesome today."

She smiled thankful "Where's James?" she asked, looking around.

Lily looked up and saw James toasting with the rest of the team and other Gryffindors, holding a bottle of firewhiskey. She frowned a little when she saw him placing his hand on a fifth-year girl's waist while he laughed. She didn't know what the huge rock that she felt falling into her stomach meant, but she didn't like it at all.

Then James looked up and their eyes met, and the boy smiled so widely that the rock on Lily's stomach turned smaller. She watched James saying goodbye to his mates and walking through the crowd towards her.

"Hey," he said when he got there, without paying attention to Sirius, Bree, and Peter (who chatted animatedly next to them), and looking only at the redhead. "Good match, huh?"

"Hello," said Lily "Yeah, congratulations." James smiled and nodded towards the empty seat next to her.

"Can I sit with you?" When she nodded, moving to make room for him, James sat next to her and Lily looked at him in the eye. He was so close she could count the little brown spots around his pupil.

"D'you want some?" he said, offering her the whiskey bottle. She shook her head.

"I'm okay." He took a gulp and left it on the table.

"I think that's enough for me too," he said, and judging by the fit of giggles he had, he was right. He wasn't drunk, but he was more than tipsy, and Lily was torn between scolding him or laughing at him.

"Your eyes are so pretty, Lily." He said, looking at her. It was obvious that he was only saying so because of all the alcohol in his blood, but she couldn't help blushing.

"Go to bed, James," she said, laughing a little. He took a red lock of hair and started toying with it

"I don't want to," he said, and Lily laughed. "I wanna stay here with you"

"C'me on, James, just go to sleep," she said, rolling her eyes

"Only if you come with me," he answered, leaning forward

After kissing he ron the cheek, he walked away, probably heading to the dormitories.

Potter had drank too much and that's why he had said all those things, but Lily couldn't help feeling that tickling when she thought he was going to kiss her on the mouth.

…

**Reviews answers:**

**Potterwatch:** Thank you very, very much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Hope you like this one as well!


	35. Chapter 35: Merry Christmas, sort of I

**Next chapter! It started getting longer, so I cut it in a moment I hadn't planned and made it into two chapters (haven't written part II yet, though) Hope you like it! I'll be waiting for your critiques.**

_*Note I: I didn't know which dinner was a bigger deal in Great Britain, if Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day dinner. In my country, or at least in my family, Christmas Eve is the important one, and then Christmas Day is kind of a follow up, but less important. I've done some research on Christmas in England, but apparently it depends on the family; some throw a big party at Christmas Eve, and some others at Chrismas Day's night. I've checked HP books and, as far as I understood, the Hogwarts feast is celebrating the night of Christmas Day, and even the Yule Ball is held that night, giving little importance to Christmas Eve. That's why I've decided that the Potters' party will be held that night. I'd like to hear your opinions, though!_

_*Note II: Despite I've read the contrary on other fics, I believe it to be extremely unlikely that James, Lily and Harry lived in the same house of the latter's grandparents, as they were precisely hiding from Voldemort, and probably they got a new house to hide there, telling its location only to Peter. However, I've decided that the Potters (James and his parents) lived in Godric's Hollow too, though in a different house. I've decided to do this because, on one side, I don't know much of England, and I didn't know where I could make them live. On the other hand, the town's population is mainly magical, and given the fact that the Potters are a long family of wizards, it's likely that they lived in a place like that one. And lastly, I thought that James and Lily could have chosen to hide the place where his parents had lived; because they were somehow 'home', and at the same time they could mislead Voldemort, who wouldn't think they would hide in such an obvious place. _

_Oh, and yeah, Sirius knows what a 'movie' is. Remember he used to take Muggle Studies._

December's glacial weather made no one wait, and the students swarmed around the Castle, wrapped in wool hats, gloves and scarves, their noses red and their breaths shaped as white trails of fog. The grounds offered a splendid view, with the frozen lake and the grass covered by a thick and spotless layer of snow; apart from being a source of enjoyment for those bold enough to leave the shelter of the school's walls to embark in snowball wars or ice-skating races on the freezing lake.

For the older students, however, December implied a great deal of study and infinite homework, especially for those in fifth or seventh, although the sixth-years didn't stay behind; Christmas holidays, so expected by all of them, would be a good break from the stress provoked by the prospect of the exams.

"I'll never be able to learn this." Peter was saying, desperate, his head buried into a thick Transfiguration book. Lily, sitting right in front of him, looked up and smiled sweetly.

"You still have time, there are a few months before the exams," she said, looking back at her book. "See if you can prove that friends of yours that studying does have a point."

"C'me on Wormtail, I'll ask you a few questions 'bout the text and then I'll help you with McGonagall's essay," said Remus, closing his book and moving a little on his chair as a ball of parchment hit his forehead. He turned his head with a slight frown and met a mischievous brown look that stared at him with her best I-didn't-do-anything face.

Neither Lily, nor Sam, Bree, or Eli had been able to convince Becca to sit and study with them, but Remus, who had only been capable of dragging Peter, had forced her to accept. However, while the rest of them read quietly, Rebecca, fidgety, shifted on her seat, glancing at the Defense book every once in a while, without paying attention to it.

Bree raised her eyes and looked at her reproachfully when a ball of paper hit a side of her head.

"If you're not gonna study, then don't bother the ones doing so," asked Lily in what her friends would call a 'prefect's voice', and Becca stuck her tongue out at her childishly, making Eli chuckle.

"For Merlin's sake, this is so _boring,_" she complained "You, reading silently, and those two all cuddly over there; too much for me to stand for more than an hour."

Sam, her head resting on Eli's shoulder (who caressed the bangs falling on her forehead and played with her braid while they both read) threw her a tired glare.

"You complain so much 'bout Black, and you're so much like him" Samatha said, and Remus laughed.

"Someone's calling me?" A smirk accompanied his voice, and Sirius let himself fall on a chair next to Peter, while James sat next to Becca.

"Like I was saying, you just can't be in peace in this castle." Sam murmured, closing her book and moving closer to Eli, who smiled and kissed her forehead, her nose and finally her lips. Sirius grimaced, disgusted.

"Ugh, it's like you came out of some corny, mushy movie," He said, and Samantha looked at him with a bored expression, making quite an indecorous gesture with her middle finger.

"They're adorable," said Bree, smiling lovingly and leaning her head on her hand. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"That's cause you're a hopeless romantic." He replied.

"I think they're adorable too," Peter interjected, happy to abandon the reading.

"That's 'cause you're a wimp, Wormy." Sirius said. Lily, Becca and Remus looked at him and said in unison:

"We all think they're adorable," Eli roared with laughter and Sirius crossed his arms, frowning at Lupin.

"For Merlin's sake, seems like the only ones here with bollocks are James and I"

"Well, actually, they do look quite cute cuddling like that." Said the boy, and Sirius gave him such a horrified look that Lily burst out laughing.

"I never thought I'd hear a word like _cute _coming out of a marauder's mouth" he said, outraged.

"Please, tell me you weren't _flying _with this weather," Bree said, looking at them more carefully. They both had their noses and ears red, and their hair was disheveled (though in Sirius' case, it gave him a look of casual aloofness) and covered in half-melted snow.

"Of course not," they said at the same time.

"They've probably been bothering someone," said Eli, his eyebrows raised, and James and Sirius have him angelic smiles.

"Exactly what I was gonna say," Remus added, considering the study done for the day and puting the book in his rucksack. Lily and Bree did the same thing, and the redhead felt James' eyes fixed on her as she put everything on its place.

"What?" she asked, but the boy shook his head, ruffling his hair and smiling.

"We haven't been bothering anyone," Sirius was saying, toying with his wand. "We've just hexed a few snowballs to make them chase after people."

"Y'know, we just try to relax the stressful atmosphere generated by the exams," James added

"Yeah, right" Sam mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"Anyway, we just wanted to ask you if you were coming to my place for Christmas," said the boy, adjusting his glasses and looking at Remus and Peter. "My mother's written to know who's coming."

"I'll probably drop by a few days later," said the lycanthrope. "My parents will want me to spend Christmas with them."

"Same here," said Peter, and James nodded, scribbling something on a piece of parchment.

"What are you blokes doing for the winter holidays? Any of you's staying at Hogwarts?" asked the honey-eyed boy.

"I believe we're all going home," Becca answered, getting up and brushing her robes. "You've just reminded me that I should write to my parents," she leant and kissed him on the lips, winking at the rest of them and leaving the library swinging her hips.

"I'm still not used to you dating the nutcase," Sirius commented, and Lily kicked him under the table.

"We're not exactly dating," he replied, smiling at his friend's painful grimace.

"Well, I'm still not used to you having it off with her." This time he earned not only a kick from Lily, but also a strong hit on his nape from Remus.

"Sirius!" Bree and Lily exclaimed, while the honey-eyed boy, glaring at him, murmured:

"You know it's more than that. Besides, we don't- We're taking things slowly."

"I guess I'm spending the holidays at home," Brianna interrupted to keep the boy from the uncomfortable moment, and he smiled at her, thankful. "And Christmas Eve with my parents. Though I'll probably be alone on Christmas Day; some friends have invited my parents over and I don't think I'm coming with them."

"Oh, if you stay at your place, can I come?" Lily asked "Vernon is spending Christmas at home and I really don't want to stand him. Besides, I don't think Tuney would like it that much. I was thinking 'bout staying at Hogwarts, but-"

"Why don't you come over to my place?" James asked, and Lily looked at him a bit puzzled.

"We wouldn't wanna bother-" Bree begun saying, but James took the importance out of it waving his hand.

"My mother will be really pleased," he said, and Sirius nodded. "We've got plenty of room, and there'll be lots of guests. It'll be fun if you come; Sirius and I will be the only ones our age if you don't."

"Maybe you can even stop us from filling the driks with nail-growing potion" the grey-eyed boy said, and Brianna laughed.

"Well, what d'you say?" James asked. Bree looked at Lily, who seemed hesitant. She looked up to the boy, who stared at her through his glasses with those special hazel eyes.

What could go wrong?

"Sure, why not?" said the redhead, shrugging, and Bree nodded. Sirius and James gave them identical smiles, from ear to ear. "Thank you."

"Yaaaaay, Nana is spending Christmas with us!" Sirius exclaimed childishly, making his friend laugh.

"Great. I'll tell my mother," James said, but then addressed Sam and Eli "What 'bout you? You're invited, of course. And so is Becca. Or you can come later, with Moony and Wormtail if you want."

Sam blushed a little.

"We'll be spending Christmas with my mother," said Eli "She adores Sam, and you can't even imagine how annoying she has gotten since we started dating; she says it's been a while since I brought her home."

"And then we're probably coming to my house. My mother is delighted with Eli, just as Jonah, and dad insists in meeting him," she said, making a face.

"And I'm dying to meet him; not everyday you have a chance to have supper with a Quidditch hero."

"What 'bout Becca?" Lupin inquired. Lily grimaced.

"I doubt it. She may be able to escape after Christmas, but her parents will want her to spend it with them; having dinner with family friends and such. They're quite influential, and Becca usually has to attend those reunions."

"Fine, it's only you two, then," said James, finishing the letter and puting it into his pocket. He was so smiling that Lily smiled when she noticed.

In those almost four months that had gone by since the beginning of the school year, it was incredible how much the relationship between her and the marauders had changed; especially with James.

James. It seemed unbelievable that she called him by his first name now. And it seemed unbelievable too how much he had deflated his head. Yes, sometimes he went back to being the bigheaded prat he once had been, but it was clear he was making an effort to fight against it. He was really nice now, fun and witty, very loyal, honest and 'protective'. And Lily could say that she really considered him a friend now; she didn't feel like she had to keep her guard up when he was around anymore.

And that was because the boy, besides struggling with his arrogance, had stopped chasing her around trying to impress her and asking her out. He didn't take that I-am-a-serious-and-mature-boy pose when he was around her anymore, behaving like he truly was. The new James, the _real _James. James her friend. But, was it posible that she missed his invitations to date? She had felt a slight hole in her stomach when she noticed he had stopped asking her out.

She had also found herself admiring other aspects of James, besides the most recently discovered personality. His dazzling smile. The way his hair stuck up at the back of his head. The agility of his movements. And his bright hazel eyes, the dark spots around the pupil.

Lily liked the new James. Maybe too much.

…

"Happy Christmas," said a sleepy James right after his mother had popped in the room for a minute, waking them up and asking for help with the preparations.

"Happy Christmas, mate." Sirius answered, rubbing his eyes and sitting up on the bed. "We should go help your mother."

The dark-haired boy sat up and reached out for his glasses, puting them on and saying in a childish voice:

"But first, the presents!" Sirius laughed, getting rid of the sheets tangled between his legs and getting closer to the foor of the bed, were a tall pile of packages swung. He rummaged through it a little until he found Bree's, and when he opened it a smile flickered across his face: a box of magical charcoals and pastels that fixed the drawings to any surface without needing a magical fixative. When he looked up, he saw a smiling James holding a pair of fine black gloves as if they were the most precious treasure in the world.

"Lily?" asked Sirius, unable to hold the laughter. His friend nodded briskly.

"They adapt to the shape of your hand and they're perfect for the broom or quaffle, 'cause of the surface of the palm; they're designed for profesional Quidditch players." He explained happily. "Lily has made me a gift."

His friend rolled his eyes and kept rummaging through his pile. James put on the gloves and proceeded to do the same thing.

"What did you give her?" Sirius asked, busy unwrapping Remus' present.

"Gloves as well," he replied, smiling at the coincidence. "Only that hers aren't for Quidditch, but they heat up when you put them on. Plus they match her eyes."

When his friend didn't answer, he looked up and found a indignant Sirius glaring at a piece of parchment, holding pin with the other hand.

"What is it?" James asked curiously. His friend looked at him, still angered "What does it say?"

"Gift from Perks," he said irritably. They were the only ones who still called each other by their surnames, and it was more obstinacy than anything. "I'm supposed to use this to poke my head, see if it deflates a little."

The boy burst out laughing, and only a while later he was able to draw himself together and throw a chocolate frog's box at his friend.

"Thought it was weird that she sent both gifts to me. In the letter she asked me to give it to you after you had opened your present." Sirius was still frowning, but he smiled a little as he caught the box.

"Well, shall we go?" the grey-eyed boy said when everything was unwrapped, getting up and puting on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt over his bóxers. "I'll come and change after helping your mum." He said at his friend's raised eyebrow.

"Wait," James said when Sirius had already opened the door. "You're forgetting one."

Sirius eyes followed the boy's look, noticing a sealed envelope that had fallen to the floor. With a slight frown, he approached and took it, raising both eyebrows when he read who the sender was.

"It's from uncle Alphard," He said intrigued, breaking the seal. When he unfolded the letter, a small key fell to the floor, and Sirius took it, turning it with his fingers and observing it with a frown. Then he looked back at the letter and immediately after exclaimed:

"_What?!"_

"What's wrong?" James inquired with concern, stepping closer. Sirius raised his wide open grey eyes from the parchment. He lifted the hand holding the key and said:

"He's given me gold."

"He's given you gold?" his friend repeated. Sirius nodded, waving the key.

"It opens a Gringotts vault. He's given it to me." Surprise still visible in his face, he looked back at the letter.

"Your uncle?" repeated James, who couldn't believe it either.

"My uncle. He's always liked me, but this…" he cut himself off with a one sided smile and a chuckle "Oh, my dear mother won't like this at all. Bet that a smoky hole will be taking his name's place on the Black's family tree by this afternoon."

James smiled.

"Didn't know there were other Blacks who thought like you. Besides Andromeda, that is."

James remembered Sirius' cousin despite she wasn't at Hogwarts anymore for his first year; a quiet and smart Slytherin who had disowned her family marrying a muggleborn. Some Tonks bloke, from Hufflepuff, who had also left Hogwarts by the time James entered.

"Well, I didn't know it either, " Sirius answered, his eyes glued to the letter. "I mean, I've always got along with Alphard, 'cause he's always been nice to me and I've never heard him talking about blood purity. But I didn't know either that he was… like me." James smiled; he knew that Sirius was happier to know that than to get all that gold, though of course, he would be giving it a good use.

"He says it's for whatever I need; to start my life on my own, to have some savings for the future, which is quite uncertain already with this war," he commented, reading for the sixth time the lines his uncle had written. "Gonna come with me to London, to search for a flat?"

"Of course. Though you can stay here as long as you want, you know that." Sirius smiled thankfully.

"And I'll finally be able to get my own motorcycle." He said exultantly. James rolled his eyes and laughed: he couldn't get how his friend could prefer thing like that one over a broom.

"We should better go help my mother already; everything has to be perfect for Lily." Now it was Sirius' turn to roll his eyes, though as he closed the door, he said:

"Don't cock it up, 'kay?" James nodded and then gave him such an angelic smile that Sirius knew he was anything but innocent. "What have you done?"

James chuckled a little before saying:

"I've only mistakenly told Lily to come two hours before everyone else, instead of one, like you told Bree." Sirius stared at him for a few seconds, bursting out laughing as they went down the stairs.

…

Lily looked nervously at herself in the mirror one more time, unsure if she had dressed appropriately. She figured the party at the Potters' would be elegant, but she didn't want to dress up and make a foul of herself. She straightened the dress, biting her bottom lip.

She had opted for a plain, dark green dress. It was a sleeveless, mid-thigh turtleneck; she found the fabric too thin and tight, but her mother had always told her it suited her nicely. She had decided not to wear any ornament other than the pearl-shaped ears that she wore all the time. She had let her long red mane loose, which brushed her lower back again.

She had an idea, opened the upper drawer and hesitated a little, biting her lip, but finally took the pretty white lily slide and put it on so that it would keep the hair away of the left side of her face. She hadn't used it since her father's death, but she thought that James would like to see her using it.

When she thought about it, she mentally scolded herself. Why did she care what James would like? She was just worrying about her appearance because she didn't want to be out of place at the party.

She tucked her wand in the garter that Becca had given her as a joke along with a tiny, sexy lingerie outfit when she had started dating Aidan. She would have never thought she would wear that thing, but the truth was that it was useful if you were a witch and had to carry a wooden stick everywhere. She went down the stairs, taking one last glimpse at the room to be sure she wasn't forgetting anything.

James had told her the party would start at six, but that they could go at four to chat for a while before the rest of the guests arrived. Bree would go by floo powder, and had offered Lily to go to her house, because, as her parents were muggle, her home wasn't connected to the network; but the redhead had opted to go straight to James' house, as the trip to Brianna's place was longer and she didn't want to spend more time than needed on the Knight Bus. However, she waited until it was past four, to make sure Bree would be there when she arrived.

"Oh, Lily, you're gorgeous!" exclaimed her mother when she saw her going down the stairs. Petunia, busy in the kitchen, turned around for a minute to look at her and puckered her lips without a compliment. Lily smiled at her mother and put on the soft gloves James had sent her: they were exactly the same shade as her dress.

"What's that?" the woman asked, admiring the gloves and stroking them when Lily held out her hands to show them to her.

"A gift from a friend," she answered. Her mother looked at her suspiciously.

"And how's that friend called?" Lily blushed slightly.

"James. James Potter." She answered.

"The one who has invited you over to his house?" Lily nodded and her mother mimicked the gesture.

"And are you sure he's just a friend?" she asked with shining eyes, still holding her hands.

"Mother!" exclaimed the girl, letting her go and folding her arms. "He's my friend. In fact, I hated him until a few months ago." The woman's eyes widened in understanding.

"I knew I had heard that name before! It's that young man who used to drive you barking mad! The one you complained about every time you came back home." The girl gave a start: she had never noticed she talked so much about James. "You hadn't mentioned him in a while."

"Probably 'cause he has stopped messing with me," she said, kissing her mother on the cheek and taking the coat from the hanger, wrapping herself in it before opening the door. "Bye, mum. Bye, Tuney. Happy Christmas, say hi to Vernon from me."

She closed the door before her sister said anything. It was odd to see her there, back at Cokeworth, cooking as if she still lived there. Even though she always visited her mother, she tried to spend most of her time at London (where she lived since she had left to take that typing course), at least when Lily was back home. She had met Vernon there, but she had heard her say she would like to move to a smaller town in the future. 'In the future' probably meant 'when I marry Vernon'; even though she had never said anything, it was clear that Petunia was waiting for him to propose. Lily wondered if, once that happened, her sister would drift away from her for good. Thinking so saddened her, but she knew it was possible, especially since Tuney hadn't told her boyfriend anything about his 'particular' sister-in-law and her lot. Maybe she never would, and if so, Lily could say goodbye to her sister forever.

She raised her wand and immediately after, the Knight Bus appeared in front of her, and a talkative bloke greeted her, asking where she was heading. Lily told him and paid, nodding at Ernie Prang, an elderly man who had driven the bus for years, and who knows for how long he would keep doing so. Lily didn't know if he was the only driver, but until now, it had always been him the one to drive her.

As soon as the bus took off, the thoughts about Petunia and his boyfriend Vernon stop worrying the redhead, who was too busy finding a way to keep balance inside that thing.

Once at Godric's Hollow, she got off slightly dizzy and tried to tidy her hair, walking timidly towards the imposing house that seemed to be James'. It was a huge manor, with windows and windows; she couldn't tell how many rooms it had. It was obvious that James' family was quite wealthy, thought probably it had been that way for generations: the house seemed quite antique, as if it had belonged to the Potter family for years. When she reached the door, she hesitated for a second, but then she grabbed the knocker with her tiny hand, knocked and waited.

Minutes later, the door opened and Lily found herself looking at an older version of James, except behind the man's spectacles were hiding a couple of dark eyes. It was clear he was quite old, with her abundant hair completely gray and those wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, proving the man had laughed a lot in his life. His nose was identical to the boy's and his shining smile was as cheeky as the one the redhead had learnt to hate and like at the same time.

He looked surprised to see her, but then he seemed to understand and made her come in, saying:

"Welcome! And Happy Christmas! Come on in, it's freezing outside." Lily followed the man, and once inside she could feel her frozen nose again. The interior of the house was really warm, and the furniture confirmed the girl that the house was effectively really antique. However, it was decorated in a very simple way that neutralized the exuberance of the furnishings and the lamps hanging from the ceiling. She looked back at the man, who smiled warmly.

"Come with me, I'll take you to the cloakroom so you can get rid of that coat. I'm James' father, I assume you are one of his friends. Nice to meet you." Lily smiled back at him and shook his hand: the man made her feel comfortable.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Potter. I'm Lily Evans." The man's eyebrows raised, recognizing the name, and his mouth gesticulated an 'oh' that he didn't pronounce.

"So you are _her_!" said the man, and his smile widened. Lily looked at him, disconcerted. "Right, I should have known, with that red hair of yours. Curious, by the way, the fact that you're a redhead. James has told me so much about you."

The girl blushed, surprised that James' father knew about her, and that he talked at her like he already knew her. She didn't understand the comment on her hair, but it didn't seem polite to ask.

"I hope he told you good things," she muttered, trying to joke so that her face's colour would go back to normal. The man let out a guffaw, chivalrously holding out his arm to accompany her to the cloakroom.

"Oh, more than good," he said, rolling his eyes in such an insolent way that it reminded Lily a lot of James "I could swear that since first year he hasn't stopped talking about you. Lily's brilliant. Lily's beautiful. Lily's sweet and kind-hearted. Lily's hair this, Lily's laughter that, Lily's eyes…"

As the man talked, the redhead got redder and redder, but he didn't seem to notice. Or maybe, if he was like his son, he did, and he did it on purpose. Thinking about it made her frown. And anyway, why did James talk so much about her? Did he really do it since first year? Probably Mr Potter was exaggerating…

"You don't know how happy he was you were coming. He wouldn't stop running across the house, helping his mother decorate and saying everything had to be perfect. I believe Sirius seriously considered breaking a broomstick on his head." The man was saying, laughing. He looked at Lily out of the corner of his eye and seemed to believe she had blushed enough, as he changed the subject:

"Maybe you would like to see the house. James could show it to you; the rest of the guests aren't arriving until later"

Before Lily could answer, a breathless boy appeared through one of the many doors, stopping for a second to breath, resting his hands on his legs. When he had recovered his cardiac rythm, he looked up.

"I'm sorry," he said, panting a little. "I didn't hear the door. Hi, Lily." He smiled at the redhead, who returned the smile slightly amused.

"Hi, James." The boy smiled even more widely when he heard his name; it was still strange to hear it coming out of her mouth, and he loved it.

"Don't worry, I've taken care of this charming young lady," his father said. Only then James seemed to notice he was there and frowned with mistrust, analyzing his father and friend's faces, trying to guess what he could have told her, and if that would be harmful to him or not.

"You should take her to the cloakroom. She must be burning in that coat," Mr. Potter commented, looking at his wrist watch. "I will make sure the gnomes aren't back. Nice to meet you, Lily." He said with one last smile, waving at them and heading to the garden.

"Well, Happy Christmas," said James, smiling at the girl. Lily timidly smiled back at him; even if the blush was gone, she still remembered what the boy's father had told her. "I'm really glad to see you."

"Happy Christmas to you too," she replied. "Thanks for the gloves, by the way." She said, raising her hands and showing them to him. James smiled like a boy with a new toy.

"Glad you liked them. Thanks to you too, I loved them." Lily smiled and nodded.

"Great." She said. "Bree hasn't arrived yet?" she asked, puzzled. The boy smiled with such an innocent smile, she didn't believe it.

"Nope, she hasn't arrived yet. Come with me, let's put that coat somewhere," he rushed to say, making a hand gesture and leading her across the hallway. He opened a door and let her in, and Lily's eyes widened at the sight of the enormous cloakroom.

"Wow," she said, looking wide-eyed at all the coats hanging on floating hangers around the place. Some of them were quite close to the ceiling.

"Yeah, the whole house is a tad… exaggerated and extravagant." He commented, slightly embarrased, and then called a hanger, which obediently approached him.

"I think it's really nice," she commented, still looking around as she took off her gloves and tucked them in her pocket.

"Right, but I'd like to live in a smaller place. Probably I will, when I get married and have kids." He commented naturally. Lily stared at him and an affective expression crossed her face: it wasn't hard to picture a grown up James surrounded by a kid or two, teaching them to play Quidditch or change the neighbour's nose colour. She would have punched herself for that thought if James hadn't been there.

"Would you give me your coat?" he asked, and Lily gave a start.

"Sure." She said, unbottoning the overcoat and slipping it off her arms. When she looked up again she found James watching her intently, like always. It made her feel uncomfortable when he did that, as if he was analizing every one of her movements, features and flaws. "Here." She said, giving him the coat a bit rudely. James took it without taking his eyes off her, put it on the hanger and let it go so that it floated to its place.

Lily was always beautiful, but seeing her in that tight little dress that accentuated her curves and made her eyes stand out more than usual, had left him breathless. He run his eyes over her white, shapely bare legs, over the curve of her hips, her narrow waist and flat stomach, the round bosom and the delicate naked shoulders. Then he admired her hair, long, abundant and dark red, and a little smile appeared on his face when he saw the white lily. His eyes brushed her covered neck up to her jaw, and stopped on her little strawberry mouth, then went up her cute nose until they met her green eyes.

It required a lot of self control not to throw himself over her and start kissing her whole body. Besides, the boy reminded himself, it wasn't time for a cold shower.

"Don't stare at me." She spat rudely. She felt he was undressing her with his eyes, and she didn't like it at all. However, James didn't notice her blush, because he was too busy devouring the redhead with his eyes.

"But I like to stare at you." He answered without thinking. The redhead folded her arms across her chest in a defensive attitude and her frown deepened. "You look really pretty." He said.

"Shut it, James." She replied irritated, though she wasn't sure why. Some other time, she would have said that her anger was due to the fact that the boy had made her feel pretty, when she knew that, besides her hair, nothing in her was actually attractive; and Lily didn't like to be laughed at. However, this time, it felt different. He made her feel pretty, and what worried her was that she believed him.

The boy sighed, resigned and approached the door.

"I can show you the rest of the house before Bree arrives, if you want." Lily nodded and followed him.

At first, they were both slightly uncomfortable; Lily because of what the boy's father had told her, and because of the way he had stared at her; James, with his mind still on Lily's body, and irritated by the fact she had rejected him that way. However, the atmosphere soon easened thanks to James' jokes, and Lily laughed enthusiastically at the stories and anecdotes the boy told her as they walked around the house.

"I swear, best thing I've ever seen in my life," James was saying in between guffaws. They had went past an old mirror in which both of them looked bald, and after the girl's scream, he had told her how that mirror used to be in his room and he had hexed it for Sirius. "Merlin, you should've seen his face…" His father, whom as Lily had supposed was a born prankster, had wanted to keep the mirror and placed it there, despite his wife's objections. Sirius, of course, made sure not to walk by that corridor too often.

They kept walking around the manor, entering rooms and corridors, and sometimes James stopped to tell her a story, or to tell her about the different people on the paintings of the walls; all Potters, and all well-known because of this or that. Lily diligently asked questions, and James laughed, reminding her that she wasn't in a History of Magic lesson.

"This is my room," said James once they were tehre, opening the door and gesturing her to come in. Lily hesitated a little. "And Sirius' of course. He could have taken another room, but we prefer to sleep together." The girl chuckled and James' eyes widened with horror. "You know what I meant!"

"I know, I know, I'm just playing with you." She said mischievously. James told her to come in again and she did.

Even if he hadn't told her, she would have known that that room belonged to the marauder. Even though the beds were made, there were clothes all over the place, along with books and Quidditch stuff. The walls were covered with pictures and posters of teams on broomsticks, and there were a few Zonko's open boxes.

The redhead walked around the room a little, making sure not to step on anything, and keeping away from the boxes. James watched her from the door, his hands tucked into his pockets. Lily ran her eyes over the shelves and smiled when she noticed many of those books were children's stories. Magical children, of course, but she had still heard of them.

A snitch came out of somewhere and begun fluttering around her head, making her laugh. James approached and seized it, juggling with it until Lily rolled her eyes.

"Stop that. It reminds me of the James I didn't like." She asked. The boy let the ball go, which flew away from there, and he messed up his hair.

"Right," he said, smiling slightly ashamed.

Lily smiled a little and approached to the photos, ignoring the Quidditch players and focusing on the other ones; the personal photos. In most of the she could see James along with one of the marauders, or with all of them. With only looking at one picture, you could see how great friends they were. There was also one that Eli had taken that very same winter, in which could be seen the whole gang: the marauders, Eli, Sam, Rebecca, Bree, and the own Lily. It felt surreal, seeing that picture there, everyone smiling under the snowflakes as if they had always been friends. She smiled and her eyes went from the wall back to the shelves, where two portraits rested. In one of them there was a fourteen-year-old James with a grey-haired man and a white-haired woman, but Lily's eyes didn't stop there too long, moving on to the next photograph. In it, a man and a woman smiled cheerfully at the camera. He had black, untidy hair and looked a lot like the boy next to Lily, though the man in the picture had a pair of dark brown eyes. The woman was really beautiful, with a smile full of life and two mischievous hazel eyes so familiar to Lily, with brown spots around the pupil. But what caught her attention the most was the fact that she was a redhead. Not orange or flaming red (colours that the famous Weasley family was known for), and not dark read, like her own, but a reddish brown shade between copper and auburn. She looked at it for a few seconds until she heard a deep voice near her ear..

"Seems that us Potter men have a thing for redheads," Lily turned around; James was closer than she thought. He probably had approached to her back while she looked at the pictures. They were too close, and if he leant just a little, their lips would soon brush each other's. The girl felt her cheeks getting warm, feeling that got stronger when James said:

"Is that a blush?" He sounded more mocking that he would have wanted, and Lily didn't like it at all. It was practically a proof of the fact that all he said was meant to see when would she give in to him.

She suddenly pulled away, and James realized about his mistake too late. However, she looked at him with a huge smile and said:

"Let's go," But the smile didn't reach her eyes, and he noticed she was mad. Or maybe hurt.

"Lily-" he started, but she interrupted:

"You haven't shown me the first floor yet, right? And I haven't seen Sirius." James looked at her doubtfully. Maybe he had misinterpreted her expression.

"He must be in the kitchen with my mother. Wanna come?" he asked. The girl nodded, leaving the room and waiting for him. The boy ruffled his hair and went after her.

Was it posible that he always found a way of screwing up?

…

**Reviews answers:**

**-Potterwatch**: Aww I'm glad you liked it! I meant it to be sweet :) This chapter was also a bit longer, hope it compensates too! Although the juicier things happen on part II of this chapter! Haha, well, I won't get James and Lily together so soon, but I can make you suffer with cute moments between them, but nothing happening after them! Haha. And yup, I really wanna see bree and Sirius together soon (glad to know you liked them so much!), but I can't tell you when is that gonna happen! Thank you very much for your review and your nice words, they mean a lot to me.

-**Knut**: Oh, don't thank me for replying! Thank YOU for commenting! I'm super glad you love it! And I'm glad you checked for an update too, I thought I had lost you! Maybe you could get an account, even if you don't publish anything, so that you can subscribe to stories, and receive a message to your e-mail when they're updated :) Oh, and I answered to you in the reviews section, but from now on, I'll answer to you this way, in the next chapter! Also, I'm happy to know you like Sirius and Bree. I find them quite adorable! And yup, Snape always makes things more interesting, I agree! Haha, well, I hope the waiting wasn't that long! And I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you very much for all those reviews, I really enjoyed reading them and they make me happy and encourage me!


	36. Chapter 36: Merry Christmas, sort of II

**Chapter 36 up! And second part of last chapter. Hope you like it! It's quite longer than the rest. Don't get used to it, though! Haha. Anyway, I'm not so sure about the chapter's quality, cause towards the ending, a bunch of things happen and I didn't want the prose to get too boring or long, so it might have ended up being a little rushed. Tell me your opinion!**

**…**

They went down the stairs quietly, and James couldn't help thinking about Lily's forced smile. He wasn't sure about what he had done wrong, but after thinking about it for a while he had come to the conclusion that the redhead had gotten mad, despite she was making an effort to smile at him with alleged naturalness. He rekindled the moment in his mind, remembering her sweet expression as she looked at the photographs. James had found it so adorable that he had instinctively approached to her, tempted to wrap his arms around her and bury his face in her fragrant red hair. He had noticed her slight start when she saw his parents' picture, and only then he had realized about the coincidence._"Seems that us Potter men have a thing for redheads." _He had said it without thinking, more to himself than to Lily, although now he realized it sounded like flirting. _Pillock,_ he told himself mentally. The more he knew Lily, the more he had realized that if he wanted her to fall for him, he had to get closer to her little by little, as if she was a little bird who would fly away at the slightest sudden movement. Then, little by little, he had found a way to her heart and thoughts; as a classmate, and now as a friend. He didn't have to ruin it, he had to be careful.

Maybe that was why she had gotten so mad. Because of that comment. Well, it had disturbed her, at least. James reminded how she had blushed. He also reminded he had been about to kiss her or, at least, thinking that if he only leant a little, his mouth would brush the redhead's. Maybe Lily had seen his intentions and that was why she had pulled away. Or maybe it was the unfortunate question he had let out then; _"Is that a blush?"_. Well, yes, pillock, you're seeing it, it is a blush. What do you win by asking? Bothering her? Showing her up? What a prick. It hadn't been an offensive question, but he was sure it had sounded slightly arrogant when he said it, and he knew very well that he had to try that his head at least _seemed _a little smaller when she was around. Besides, even if all that wasn't a valid reason for getting mad, he had to remember that Lily was… quite sensitive regarding anything involving James. It was like she was _expecting _him to cock it up somehow. Like she was expecting him to dissapoint her, to do something wrong that justified her qualms, or the caution sh always hada round him. James frowned when he thought about it, slightly irritated. He would proove to her that he wouldn't cock it up this time.

He was surprised to notice they were already at the ground floor.

"Uhm," he said, looking at Lily. He noticed that each time he laid his eyes on her, he stared at her for longer than he should, but Merlin, she was gorgeous, and that little green dress …

"Sirius?" she reminded him with a soft laughter. This time it did sound natural. Maybe she wasn't mad anymore. He forced himself to look at her in the eye, though it probably wasn't a great idea, because was captivated by them. Lily cleared her throat, uncomfortable, and James looked away.

_Merlin's sake, she'll think you're a retarded troll_.

"Yeah! Right," he said, motioning towards the kitchen. "Right, you were gonna say hi to Sirius"

Lily followed him as James insulted himself mentally. When they were closed to the kitchen, they heard two voices: Sirius unmistakable barking and a woman's voice.

They entered the kitchen and Lily was surprised to see the grey-eyed boy joking with an elderly woman of white hair, neatly tied on the top of her head. They turned around when they heard them enter, and Sirius exclaimed with exaggerated effusiveness:

"Redhead! Long time no see," he opened his arms as if the girl were to run and throw herself into his arms. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Nice legs, girl." He said, and Lily blushed. The woman next to him laughed, hiting him lovingly on the head with a wooden spoon. She had a nice laughter, deep but feminine, and the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth when she smiled only accentuated her particular beauty. She looked at Sirius lovingly, as if he was her son, and he smiled back, winking.

"Uhm, mum, this is Lily, Lily Evans," said James, who seemed quite uncomfortable. He didn't expect to introduce her to her mother until later, and he hadn't mentally prepared yet. He just hoped his mother wouldn't show him up, though he suspected his father had already done it for her. "Lily, this is my mother."

The redhead smiled at the woman, who smiled back widely at her. All of her face lit up when she smiled. Lily noticed her lively hazel eyes shining with interest when she heard her name. They were identical to James', and although she looked quite elderly (the boy's parents had probably had him when they were older), when you looked at her in the eye, it felt like you were looking at a twenty-year-old.

"Nice to meet you at last, Lily," she told her. She didn't miss the 'at last' and James didn't either, looking at his mother with a frown. "I love your dress," she commented with her deep voice.

She was a really refined woman, of delicate movements and exquisite manners. For a moment, Lily wondered how could she stand James' father, and she quickly came to the conclusión that Mrs Potter had an excellent sense of humor.

"Yeah, redhead, good to see you show off your body," Sirius added, raising his eyebrows. James looked at him with an expression that clearly said take-your-eyes-away-from-Lily-or-I'll-rip-them-off, but Mrs Potter laughed jovially. Lily rolled her eyes at the boy and addressed the woman

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Potter. You have a beautiful house." She said politely. The woman smiled and her face was full of life.

Lily observed the woman was very, very thin. Then she remembered what James had told her once about his mother being sick. She felt a hole in her stomach as she remembered: she had never asked the boy about her mother after that one time in the Atronomy Tower. He had always worried so much about her father and his death, and she hadn't had the decency of asking about his mother's health.

"Thank you, Lily; it has belonged to my husband's family for so long, but I've redecorated it myself when he married. It was a little …"

"Like my parents house," Sirius laughed, getting stealthily closer to the pot. The woman threatened him with the wand and Sirius pulled his puppy face, making everyone laugh.

"Well, yes. It was decorated in such an antique way… And of course I wouldn't have let the decoration in his hands" she said, making a gesture with the spoon towards the yard. Even if the way she talked was as refined as herself, she sounded as jolly as her husband. "He would have been able of transforming the whole place into some kind of prank He is _just _like James," she said with loving frustration, and her son smiled at her.

"I hope he hasn't bothered you too much while he showed you the house," she commented, looking at her son with reproach.

"Oh, not at all," Lily answered, laughing "It's been quite entertaining." The woman smiled

"Good. You should come here more often, James has been extremely helpful today," she commented. Sirius chuckled.

"I'm always-" James started, but the woman kept talking.

"Even though I've had to make him take off those nice gloves he got for Christmas. I have the impression that, if I had let him, he would still be wearing them."

Sirius burst out laughing and Lily went beet-red, though at least the woman had the tact of not showing she knew it was her who had given him the gloves; Mr Potter would have joked about it. She looked at James out of the corner of her eye: he was as red as her. Sirius kept laughing, and James approached to him and smacked him on the nape.

"Boys…" said the woman reproachfully. Lily, still red, smiled. It was nice to see James and Sirius like that, as brothers. That's what they were.

Right then, they heard a muffled knock upstairs and the woman frowned looking at her son:

"James, you told your friend she must clarify she wants to end in the living room's fireplace, right?" The boy looked at Sirius, who hit his forehead with his hand.

"I completely forgot!" he said, and ran upstairs, followed by James.

The redhead looked at the woman questioningly, and she said:

"There are two fireplaces in the house, and for some reason, if you don't say where do you want to end, the floo networks takes you to the one upstairs instead of to the living room," she explained, and the girl nodded.

Lily noticed she was alone with Mrs Potter and shifted on her place, uncomfortable, but the woman smiled warmly.

She looked more like James than she had thought at first; besides their eyes, he had the same smile as her, the same cheekbones, and even though James' jaw line was stronger and more masculine, she could see a trace of it in his mother's. And there was also a certain… quality, though Lily couldn't really tell what it was. It was easy to tell how he resembled his father, beyond the physical appearance: they were both hardened pranksters and had that aura of joviality and mischievousness; but in the case of his mother, it was something more… indescribable. Mostly it had to do with their eyes and the way they looked at people; in a scrutinizing, but warm way. You felt protected, comfortable, you wanted to be around them.

"James was right when he said how pretty you were," she told her, and Lily blushed, though she noticed that the woman didn't mean to bother her, like her husband had done.

"Thank you," she said timidly. Why did it feel like she was meeting her mother-in-law or something? Merlin! And having thought of that was even worse.

The girl looked at the pot on the fire with interest and asked with admiration:

"You've cooked all the food for tonight on your own?" The woman smiled, and the deep laughter made Lily feel comfortable.

"Oh,my husband and the boys have helped me (yes, imagine Sirius and James in aprons. But don't tell them I told you), but yes, I've done pretty much on my own. It's not a big deal, just snacks, this and that…"

Lily smiled and asked:

"So, how's that of James and Sirius in aprons?" they both laughed and begun chatting animatedly as they waited for the rest to arrive, feeling at ease with each other really soon.

Like Lily had assumed, the woman had an excellent sense of humor, and that was why she got along so well with Mr Potter, despite she seemed so much serious than him. By talking to her, the girl knew that if it hadn't been for her jollity and character, she would have succumbed to the illness that had gotten her so thin and made her hands shake slightly sometimes. She was a strong, smart woman, and the girl thought that if James' father was as brave and noble as he had heard the boy say, she knew where James' ideals and values had came from. Besides, it was clear that she adored her son, and the redhead begun to understand where all of James' ego and his king-of-the-world pretensions came from.

"So, Lily," said the woman in a secretive tone after they had already talked for a while (for some reason, the rest of them hadn't come back yet) "This girl, Brianna, she's a friend of yours, right?"

Lily nodded.

"Tell me: Sirius and her… are they together?" Lily smiled sideways: the boy probably talked nonstop about the sweet Bree.

"Not really, no" she said, and the woman looked dissapointed "Though Bree is head over heels for Sirius," she confessed, and the woman smiled widely "And I think Sirius is too." Mrs Potter nodded, thoughtfull.

"I think so too." She stated when her son, the grey-eyed boy and a curly haired, big-eyed girl entered the kitchen.

"This is Bree," said Sirius, pushing her comically by her shoulders and dragging her towards Mrs Potter, who laughed "This is James' mother"

"Nice to meet you, honey," She greeted her, giving the shy girl one of her warm smiles that Bree gave him back with enthusiasm.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Potter," she said, shaking her hand and then adding ceremoniously; "Congratulations,"

That seemed to surprise the woman and the two boys, though Lily saw the mischievous, slightly irritated spark in her friend's eyes.

"What for?" Mrs Potter asked. Bree gave her an innocent, adorable smile.

"Oh, you know, standing these two insufferable bigheads during _all _summer, and besides during the winter holidays, it's actually worthy of admiration." The woman burst out laughing and Lily smiled.

"Well, you have to stand them during the rest of the year," Mrs Potter commented.

Sirius and James had bothered Bree all the way to the kitchen because of how frenzy she had gottten when she had noticed her dress and hair were covered by a thin layer of ashes. She had ruffled her curls and shook her clothes, squealing that she couldn't look like that when she met James' parents.

"No, really," Bree murmured when the two boys were busy arguing with Lily, who had brought up the aprons topic. "It's admirable. And I'm thankful."

Somehow, the woman knew she was taking about Sirius and the fact they had welcomed him to their house and made him their son. Bree's words completely touched her and she knew Sirius had chosen well, just as James.

"Well, see you later, mum," said the boy, adjusting his glasses and walking towards the kitchen's door, followed by Sirius, who blew a kiss to his friend's mother, who looked at him with motherly reproach.

"Do you need any help?" Bree and Lily asked in unison, but Mrs Potter shook her head, telling them to follow Sirius and James.

"I'll call you if I need you. Make sure my boys behave properly, yes?" The girls nodded, laughing, and followed the marauders.

James offered Bree a tour around the house, but as Lily had already seen it, she declined the offer, saying they could show it to her later.

"Why don't we go outside for a while?" Sirius suggested "It's stopped snowing. We could fly for som-"

"No flying." Lily cut him across emphatically, and Bree let out a guffaw at her friend's reluctance to ride a broom since their first year.

"Besides we're wearing dresses, Sirius, it wouldn't be the most comfortable thing to do," she commented. Sirius and James smiled maliciously.

"Well, the whole point was to see your undies," said the boy, his grey-eyes shining amused. Bree went red as Lily's hair, and the redhead glared at James instead of at Sirius.

"No, seriously, you could come see the back yard. It's quite pretty even in winter; most plants survive the cold weather and they look gorgeous covered in snow." Said the boy, messing up his hair and trying to pacify his friends.

"Good idea, though we'll need the coats." Said Lily. Her friend was still wearing hers, but she accompanied the rest of them to the cloakroom were they wrapped into their coats and puto n their gloves and scarves.

They followed the boys to the yard, and when they went out they both let out surprised '_ohhh's. _James was right: it was so pretty! However, they didn't admire it for too long, because minutes later, a huge snowball smashed against one side of Brianna's head, covering her dark curls wih little white dots.

Sirius burst out laughing at his friend's perplexed expression, but laughter didn't last long, as a snowball hit him right on the face. Lily smiled angelically as the boy spitted snow, and this time it was Bree the one laughing, congratulating her friend, who soon received two snowballs from James and Sirius.

Shortly after they were completely wet, running around the yard like children, dodging snowballs and throwing projectiles to the rest, though the girls' dresses didn't make it easy. James and Bree were the ones with the better aim, so soon Lily and Sirius allied against the other two.

"_It's freeeezing"_ Bree was screaming. Sirius had gotten to make her fall, and had started tucking snow into her coat. "_Jaaaaames_!"

But her team mate was too busy chasing Lily, who screamed waving her arms in the air, trying to escape from the dark-haired boy, who was really fast.

"Gotcha!" He exclaimed with triumph when he seized Lily's hood, but right then, he tripped, losing his glasses and falling, dragging the redhead with him.

James felt the girl's body under his, and he quickly rolled on the snow, fearing he could hurt her. However, their limbs were so tangled that Lily rolled with him, ending up laying on his chest. For a second he went stiff, feeling the girl's weight on him, and it took his eyes some seconds to focus hers. Her face was the only thing that didn't look like a blur. Her eyes were wide open in surprise, her mouth parted, and the boy noticed she had no freckles, like he had always assumed happened in winter. James thanked they were wearing so many clothes, because if apart from feeling her soft breath and the caresses from her red hair on his face, he would have been feeling the girl's curves against his chest, he would have lost it.

Lily's breath stopped only for a second when, as they rolled, she ended up on James' chest. She had got up a little, her hands on him, and she had looked up to his face, were a couple of short-sighted eyes with no glasses narrowed a bit, and then opened wide when noticing her proximity. She felt his breath warming up her cold face, and her gaze was lost into those hazel eyes which looked at her with an intensity unknown for her. If she hadn't stopped looking at them, maybe she would have kissed him, but her eyes looked away from them for a second, looking for James' mouth, and it was then when she realized what was going on.

The way she jump then would have been envied by any basketball player, and her squeal was accompanied by James' cry of pain.

Lily stood up, her eyes wide open, yelling:

"I'm sorry!"

James grabbed his crotch, squirming on the ground with moans of pain while Sirius and Bree laughed their arses off, a few feet away from them.

"James, I'm sorry!" the redhead repeated, but the boy was only capable of uttering words that made no sense.

"With… Knee… Hurts… Ouch." Brianna was grabbing her stomach, bending on it, and Sirius had fallen to the floor, clapping with his glove-clad hands.

Only when James was able to stand up, with tears in his eyes, his friends stopped laughing and Bree handed him the glasses she had found a few feet from her.

"I'm sorry." Lily repeated, worried, and Sirius chuckled again, but shut up at the look his friend gave him.

"Don't worry," said the boy, waving its importance away with his hand, although when he walked, you could tell he was still in pain. When their eyes met, Lily rekindled the fall and the minutes she had laid on his chest. Why the hell hadn't she moved away?

Sirius glanced at Bree's wrist-watch and commented:

"We should go in. In a while, the guests will be arriving and you'll probably want to take a hot shower," he commented, remembering with guilt that his friends were wearing dresses and their legs were uncovered despite the coats.

As if she had been waiting for Sirius to say it, Lily sneezed and Bree followed her lead. James looked at the redhead with guilt.

"Yeah, we should better go in."

"I'm gonna put my coat away," said Lily, quickly entering the house without waiting up for the others.

James let out a frustrated sigh and felt like screaming, but Bree approached to him and pinched his arm while Sirius walked to his side and patted his back. He sighed again and headed with the rest of them to the cloakroom, but when they entered it, they didn't find Lily there.

"She must have gotten lost," Sirius deduced, after calling her out a couple of time in case she was lost inside the cupboard among the coats.

"Take Bree to our room so she can have a shower, I'll go look for Lily."

Sirius nodded, puting his arm around his friend's shoulder and guiding her upstairs, looking out of the corner of his eye at the nice, strappless plum dress she uncovered after taking off her coat.

"Tell me, what have you been up to?" asked the boy. Bree begun telling him about the previous days, and Sirius watched her talk, playing absentmindedly with her curls.

When he had seen her come out of the fireplace covered in ashes, Sirius had realized he had missed her even more than he had thought, and each time he looked at her he felt a pinch of happiness. That pretty face of slightly dark complexion made him want to hug her, protect her, kiss her curls… and lips. Sirius watched her attentively: to him, Bree was so beautiful and stunning, but if he observed her carefully, he saw that she probably wasn't the stereotype of beauty. To someone who didn't know her, maybe Brianna wasn't _that_ appealing, or didn't look at all that interesting, despite her round, dark-blue eyes. But the grey-eyed boy realized that, to him, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever met. With her dark, bouncing curls, her small nose and tiny pink mouth, her large, scrutinizing eyes and her shy smiles; her bubbly laughter, her concerned frown, her wrinkled nose when she complained; her little body, her narrow shoulders, her tight waist and her chest, only slightly bulky… The way she worried about him, scolding him when he did something he shouldn't have, offering her advise if needed, taking his hand silently if she knew it was the best for him. She always seemed to know what was best for him, and he was a better person thanks to Bree.

Why couldn't he pluck up the courage to tell her what he really felt for her?

"Sirius?" The black-haired boy gave a start when he heard his name "Are you listening?" She frowned like she always did, and he smiled.

"Of course, Nana, I've only gotten distracted for a minute," he said. She didn't seem to believe him, and her eyes shone with concern; when Sirius became lost in thought like that, he was usually thinking about his family. The boy noticed what she was thinking in, so he pulled her closer to him and kissed her nose. "I'm fine, seriously."

Bree watched him carefully and Sirius pulled a bored expression, but the girl seemed to decide he wasn't lying, so she stood on her toe tips and kissed his cheek. Then Sirius lifted her over his shoulders and, laughing, took her to his room, dropping he ron one of the beds. When he did, Bree pulled his arm and he fell too, laughing.

Sirius shifted a bit until he laid next to her, both of them facing the ceiling with their hair sprawled on the bed. They remained silent, and the awareness of Sirius' proximity raced Bree's heart.

For her, it was clear that she was in love with him. He was handsome, yes, and a lot, but that could have been answered by any student at Hogwarts; that silky, dark hair; those unique features, the dazzling smile and the mysterious grey eyes. Of course he was handsome. But Sirius was much more than that. He was brave and smart, though also impulsive and a tad reckless. He was fun and knew to make fun of himself, but was also understanding and very sweet. But, above all else, he was loyal. And he was her best friend.

She gave a start when she felt Sirius hand entwined hers and toyed with her fingers, and when she turned her head she saw he was looking down to their hands. Then he looked up and their eyes met, very, very close.

For just a moment, and maybe for the first time since she knew about her own feelings, Bree wondered if Sirius wouldn't feel the same. But then he stood up, letting her hand go, and Bree's heart shrunk a little. She sat, slightly stunned, while the boy came back from the bathroom holding some towels.

"You can have a shower if you want," he said, giving her the towels. "We still have a good while until the guests arrive, so you can warm up a little. I'll be downstairs helping James' mum, but he'll probably bring Lily over here soon."

Brianna nodded, smiling a little, taking the towels and locking herself in the bathroom with a lump in her throat.

…

It didn't take long until Lily noticed she had took the wrong turn. She tried to go back, but the Potters' house had too many corridors and soon, she got lost. Resigned, she dropped herself on a bench against a wall, waiting for her friends to find her.

How silly of her, running away like that… it was just that feeling what she felt when she looked at James in the eye, being so close to him; it had scared her. It was the second time she found herself in the same situation; closer to James that she should have been, and wanting him to kiss her. It was extremely hard for her to acknowledge that in her thoughts. She had been wanting him to kiss her. She remembered when, back in his room, he had told her how all Potter men had a thing for redheads. He remembered everything James' parents had told her about how he talked about her, and she remembered all the flatteries he usually let out. Maybe James did fancy her. Her mind went back to James' room, and she blushed again when she reminded how close his lips had been. If he would have just leant a little… but he hadn't, and she had gotten into a huff. Now she realized about it: that had been the reason she had pulled away so abruptly. Partly, she had gotten mad because he hadn't kissed her, and partly, she had gotten mad for wishing so badly that he did. Pulling away had been the most sensible thing to do, or she might have ended up doing she would have regretted.

And now, when finally everything had went back to normal, she had found herself really, really close to him again, and he had looked at her in a way no one had before. And she had yearned for his lips again. Why everything had to be so complicated? With the effort hey had put into being friends, now her stupid feelings were getting in the way to ruin everything. She had to stop thinking about kissing James, and stop wondering how it would feel having his arms around her, his solid chest against her cheek. Merlin! _Stop thinking about Potter that way, _she told herself..

"Lily."

The girl gave a start and when she looked up, her eyes met James'. She blushed, as if somehow the boy could know what she had been thinking about.

"James. You scared me," she said, smilign a little and sneezing loudly. "I got lost." The boy laughed, offering her a hand to help her standing up.

"I figured," he commented, leading her to the cloakroom "It's normal, these corridors are a tad confusing for those who don't know the house."

He didn't say a thing about the way Lily had ran away from the garden, and she was infinitely thankful.

"Thanks," she said once they had already hung her coat. James smiled, winking, and headed to the stairscase.

"I guess Bree must be in the shower. We still have half an hour; we'll be waiting for you downstairs." He said.

"You won't have a shower?" The redhead asked when they were already arriving to the room.

"I'm not cold. You must have frozen out there." He said, looking at Lily's legs with guilt. She sneezed again, he looked at her with concer and she smiled.

"Don't worry, it's nothing." She said, entering the room, where the bathroom door was open. "Thanks for letting us use your shower."

"We'll be waiting for you downstairs," James repeated, making a gesture towards the stairs and waving at her before closing the door.

"Bree," Lily called her, and a curly head popped out of the bathroom.

"I'm done, you can come in," she was already dressed again and her nose had gone back to its usual tone. "It really does good, a hot shower. I've waterprooved my hair so that it wouldnt' get wet."

"Good idea, would you wait for me? It won't take long." Then she looked at her more attentively and frowned. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's nothing. I wait here."

…

After changing, when he arrived at the ground floor, he found Sirius dressed in suit moving furniture around with his father, and he got ready to help. When he noticed James lost gaze and the odd expression in his face, the dark-haired, grey-eyed boy approached to him with concern.

"James, what's wrong?"

"Lily's naked in my shower." He said flatly, making his friend burst out laughing.

Shortly afterwards, when almost everything was ready, Lily and Bree went down the stairs, laughing at the flattering whistles from thei friends, and headed to the kitchen to help Mrs Potter with the last minute preparations, and finally joined Sirius and James.

Soon, the guests begun to arrive: men, women, couples of all ages who knew the Potters from this or that. Women were clad with the most eccentric dresses; some of them looked as good as Lily or Bree, while some others aroused the gossips from the older women and laughter from Sirius and James (like that great aunt of the boy who arrived with a fuchsia sequined dress that was so tight it made her look like a sausage about to blow up). Men, mostly, wore sober dress robes, thought the youngest had opted for muggle suits or tuxedos.

The place was soon filled with the sound of laughter and conversations, apart from the soft music played by the band the Potters had hired. The elderly were sitting on tables arranged at one side of the room, while the rest opted to remain standing, serving themselves with the snacks provided by trays which floated by themselves around the house.

Close to the entrance, the four Gryffindors chatted animatedly.

"Promise," Bree was saying, pointing at Sirius with a finger.

"Fine," he said, rolling his eyes and then saying in unison with Hames "We promise we won't put naik-growing potion in other people's drinks."

"Unless my aunt Helen pinchs me again," James added with a grimace. Everyone else laughed, remembering the fat woman trying her nephew as if he was still five years old, pinching his cheeks and talking in a baby voice.

"Merlin's sake, look at that one," said Sirius when a black-haired woman in her thirties, with too much make up on her, passed next to them. She was wearing a low-cut, dark dress with sheer sleeves and a long train that extended a few feet behind her.

"Looks like Morticia Addams," Lily commented, accepting the glass of champagne that the floating tray was offering. The rest of them look at her without understanding.

"Whom?" asked Sirius, shaking his head at the tray and pointing at the egg-nogg glass he was holding, as if the object could see him.

"Never mind," she murmured, paying attention at what her friend was indicating her by elbowing her.

A young blonde man who was in his twenties, tall and athletic, was chatting with James' father on the other side of the room. When he noticed they were looking at him, he winked one of his green eyes and kept taling.

The giggles that Bree and Lily let go were so unlike them that their friends raised their eyebrows. When he realized what they were looking at, Sirius exclaimed with surprise:

"You like that dork?"

"Who is him?" Lily asked, still looking at him.

"An arse." James answred, but at the same time, Bree reminded her:

"He was Gryffindor's Head Boy when we were first-years. Now he's a recognized businessman, very successful considering he's so young."

"Prick." Sirius murmured as Lili said:

"Oh, impressive."

"For Merlin's sake, with that pillock face he has!" James exclaimed, exasperated, and his friend backed him up:

"No, seriously, he's an arse and a big-head."

"Well, no one said we were actually meaning to go there and talk to him," the redhead replied with an eyebrow raised and an amused expression.

"But looking doesn't hurt anyone," Bree added, laughing. By their friends' faces, the brunette had a clear idea of who might be the victim for the nail-growing potion that night.

"I think Becca is a bad influence for you." James sentenced, making the girls laugh.

They chatted for a while, laughing at the guests and even doing impressions of them (Bree turned out to have a natural talent for it). Sirius made everyone laugh approaching the band and singing carols with them. When the music became livelier, he went back to his friends:

"C'me on, redhead," Sirius sad, leaving his glass and hers on a tray that passed by "Let's move that legs of yours." She said, pulling her by her hand and taking her to the center of the room as James and Brianna laughed.

"What's this all about?" Lily asked, laughing as she followed him

"Can't I spend some quality time with my favorite redhead and future sister-in-law?"

She didn't have time to roll her eyes at him, because the boy begun making her twirl around the place in front of the amused guests. Some of the younger ones followed their example and started dancing, and even some of the older people did it too.

"Y'know, Sirius? You're not bad at dancing." She commented after a while. The boy smiled showing two rows of white teeth and raised his eyebrows in an extremely arrogant expression.

"I do everything well, redhead."

"Bighead."

"Hey, not as well as I, Padfoot." Yelled James, who had approached dancing with Bree after almost all of the guests had joined their friends.

They laughed and danced for a while, and the truth was that they were quite good (and for their extreme pleasure, they both clearly surpassed the twentyish blonde who was so good looking but seemed to have two left feet).

"So that Bree had a chance of dancing with the best as well, why don't we change partners, Prongs?" Sirius commented, winking at Lily and approaching his friend.

James opened his mouth to answer, but right then, the music stopped and an extremely fat man, whose red face indicated he had drunk too much, suggested a toast, primping his moustache and puting an arm around James' mother's shoulders as she looked at him reproachfully.

Following Mr Potter's instructions, a new flock of trays filled the place, offering an sparkling beverage dyed in green and red.

"Ohhh, how nice!" Lily exclaimed, looking at it curiously among the people yelling Happy Christmas at each other. James leant a little, getting closer to her ear so she could hear.

"It's an irish cocktail," he said, yelling a little. Lily took a sip, and he kept saying "It's made out of-" He cut himself short, looking up with an indecipherable expression on his face. He seemed to hesitate for a second and then, resigned, quickly grabbed the redhead by her shoulders and moved aside, dragging her with him.

"James, wha-? Oh!" Lily's exclamation accompanied Bree's, who, moving a few steps to her left with Sirius was now in the place her friend had been a second ago.

The brunette and the boy were standing in front of each other, like they were a few minutes ago, only they were much closer now, wrapped in something that preventing them from moving. The long and shiny branches that seized them like tentacles seemed to be coming out of a small and familiar plant floating over them.

"Mistletoe." Lily murmured when she saw it.

"Magical mistletoe," The dark-haired boy clarified, messing up his hair. "They've been years since they had last released it for Christmas…"

"Mágical? You mean it won't let them go until they kiss?" she asked; she had never heard of it. James nodded looking at his friend, still doubting if moving Lily away from the mistletoe had been the right thing to do.

The guests who were close to them begun laughing, cheering the 'couple'. Lily and James looked at each other; they couldn't know what was going on between Sirius and Bree, but whatever happened that night might change the relationship between both of them.

Then Sirius leant and kissed her on the lips, and everyone burst out clapping as the mistletoe released them and floated away, looking for its next victim. People suddently lost interest, moving away from the couple. Lily was about to approach to her friends, but James grabbed her wrist.

"I think we should better leave them alone," he said, smiling a little. "The magical mistletoe settles for a kiss on the cheek, y'know?"

"Oh, yeah? I didn't know that." She answered, understanding why was James suggesting they should leave Bree and Sirius on their own.

"Well, Sirius did." He added, raising his eyebrows and taking her hand. "Let's go, and I'll show you how beautiful looks the front yard with the Christmas lights."

The redhead nodded and followed him.

…

At first, when she felt something pushing her until it squeezed her against the boy's chest, she hadn't understood what was going on. Then she had looked up, recognizing the magical mistletoe, common custom in Christmas parties, and she had felt her face going beet-red. She had looked down to the boy, and her heart had raced as she looked into those grey eyes which always had so much to say and hide. Her hands were on his chest, though she didn't remember putting them there, and their bodies were glued together in a way they had never been. Then she had realized that if he only kissed her cheek, the mistletoe would let them go, but her heart's rhythm hadn't reduced; it wouldn't happen while she still had her blue eyes fixed on his. She had felt his warm breath on her face when he let out a soft laughter, so close to her, before saying:

"Well…" And he had leant towards her.

But he hadn't kissed her cheek, like she was expecting, instead, he had held her face with one hand and their lips had met. It was a brief kiss, but she felt as if she was floating, being only vaguely aware that the mistletoe was releasing them.

She didn't pay attention to the rest, and she didn't know what they were yelling, just as she didn't hear whatever Sirius had told her after letting her face go. She was dazed, like in a dream. She tried top ay attention to the boy, who was addresing her again:

"Ouch, I think we should better get going," He said, seizing her wrist and dragging her towards the crowd. She caught a glimpse of the former Gryffindor Head Boy walking angrily towards them, his blonde hair dyed in a strange shade of purple.

Sirius laughter filled the empty kitchen and she watched him as the boy sat carelessly over the countertop.

"Oh, such a shame Prongs didn't see it," he was saying, still laughing. "It's been his idea." Bree tried to look at him reproachfully, but her half smile ruined the effect, and she approached to him when the grey-eyed boy patted the marble next to him. "C'me on, Nana."

The girl sat next to him, her curls bouncing as she tried to get up there.

"He's known it was us 'cause we did him the same thing on our first year," Sirius was saying with the same easygoing attitude he always had. Brianna, however, was slightly cohabited, and the happiness that had invaded her for a moment, under the mistletoe, was dyed by the fact was acting like he hadn't been there. She frowned a little, but her friend didn't notice. "We've thought it was a good idea to try again, y'know, remind ol' times…"

She let him talk, her frown deeper and deeper. She was sure Sirius knew too that the mistletoe would free them after a simple kiss on the cheek, but he had chosen to kiss her on the mouth and now was acting like nothing had happened.

"Sirius?" she murmured, interrupting him.

"Yeah?" The dark-haired boy answered absently, laying back.

"Don't you think we should talk 'bout it?" She asked, somehow timidly. The boy looked at her puzzled, and she felt her happiness fading away as quick as it had arrived.

"Whatcha talking 'bout?" He was either making it hard for her, or she had misinterpreted the whole thing.

"Why have you kissed me? In the mouth?" she asked. As shy as she was, it had been too hard for her to make that question, but the boy waved the importance put of it with a hand gesture, and a bitter feeling flooded her.

"Oh, it's been nothing," he commented, and Bree's heart shattered into a thousand pieces, but Sirius didn't seem to notice "We were just having fun…"

She nodded.

"Right. It hasn't meant anything." She stated bitterly.

"It hasn't meant anything." He repeated.

She looked at him in the eye and realized with surprise that Sirius wasn't as indifferent about it as he had pretended to be, and that enraged her. If he really had no idea of what Bree felt for him, if that kiss had really been nothing, and if the boy was really taking the whole thing lightly, she would have been able of forgiving him, because it would have meant that he didn't feel anything more for her other than a friendship, and that he hadn't thought he could her hurt either, or that he was playing with her feelings; it would have just been a naïve kiss between friends. But when she had looked into his eyes, she had realized none of that was true. He knew what she felt for him, and he had kissed her anyway. Any explanation for his behavior made her mad, no matter which one was true: if he didn't feel anything for her, Bree would get mad, because he had kissed her despite it, aware that he could hurt her; if he didn't know what he really felt and regretted kissing her, Bree would get mad, because he had played with her feelings. And if Sirius felt something for her and had kissed her aware of that, Bree would get mad, because faking like he was doing then, he was being a complete coward.

Whatever it was the reason why he had kissed her, he was being a coward now, not admitting what had happened between them, and not explaining to Brianna what had all that been about.

She jumped off the countertop and turned to him, rage visible in her face. When she looked at him in the eye again, she saw surprise, but also guilt, which deepened her frown.

"I would have never thought I would say Sirius Black is a coward." She said calmly, turning around and leaving the place.

Sirius sat there, stunned at her reaction, observing the door through which his best friend had just left. He tried to remember what had gone through his mind when he kissed her…

It had taken him less than a second to recognize the magical mistletoe that had joined them in that intímate hug, a hug he had been wishing to share with Bree for so long. He had felt the pressure of her hands on his chest, her curls tickling his chin before she looked up. He had felt so at ease with the warmth of her body against his… She had looked up, looking at him with those round, dark, innocent eyes, and he had felt the impulse of hugging her even tighter. He had noticed her blush and her nervousness, letting out an amused guffaw because of the situation they were in. Then he had decided to kiss her on the cheek and let her go, but when he had leant, he had held her face and kissed her on the mouth.

The taste of her lips still burnt his mind and mouth.

But he had had to pull away. No, he hadn't _had _to, he had _wanted _to. What he couldn't figure out was why.

He wasn't sure what had made him act that way, not only pulling away, but also ignoring all that had happened, trying to be casual. But she hadn't let it go, and he had gone even further; he had pretended he didn't know what the hell was Bree talking about. He had been an arse.

Brianna had probably felt humiliated and hurt, and she was right to be mad. Why had he acted like that? He was looking for a logical reason but couldn't find it. It had been his choice to do what he had done, and however, it wasn't what he wanted. He wanted her, Bree, he wanted to hold her in his arms and keep kissing her.

And that scared him. Bree was right, he was a bloody coward.

He jumped off the counter in order to find his friend, but as soon as he entered the hall, he found a completely different atmosphere. He watched the faces and saw concern and warning in them, and noticed how a lot of them were running through the door or dissapparating out of there. He wanted to look for Bree; he didn't know what was going on, but it couldn't be good and sh was alone. He run through the frenzied guests looking for Bree, for the Potters, for anyone who could explain what was going on… He bumped into someone.

…

"You were right, James!" Lily exclaimed, going down the entrance steps with a smile. The boy was still holding her hand, but she didn't raise any objections. "It's beautiful."

"Told you" he said, smiling, letting her hand go and sitting on a step.

She remained standing for a momento, admiring the tiny lights decorating the entrance.

"It's as if the snow was glowing…" she whispered, sitting next to James. "It's so pretty…"

The dark-haired boy observed her, trying not to be caught. She was so gorgeous it was breathtaking. He saw her look up to the moon.

"It won't be long until the full moon…" she commented, and James nodded. Only a minute later, he understood what she meant to imply and looked at her, intrigued. She didn't look away from the sky as she said:

"I know. About Remus, I… Anyway, I would never say anything to anyone." Despite his initial surprised, James smiled sweetly.

"I know."

They remained silent for a few minutes, and although they couldn't have known, they were both thinking about the same thing; how surreal the situation was… no one who couldn't see it would believe it, Lily and James sitting together, chatting like friends in front of a nice, Christmassy landscape.

"Thanks for moving me away from the mistletoe," Lily said softly.

"You're welcome. I…am sorry about today… I didn't mean to-"

"Don't worry," she interrupted him with a soft laughter. "It was my fault too. I shouldn't have gotten mad."

She turned to him and fixed her large green eyes on him, and James ruffled his hair.

"Thank you for… for everything. For inviting me over today, for… everything." She said, smiling as she did so. She was trying to thank him for worrying about her so much all the time, for trying to make her laugh, for having… changed for her. The boy smiled back.

"You don't have to thank me. I've had a great time with you," he answered with all the honesty in the world, and she smiled radiantly, looking back at the landscape as he messed up his hair again.

Lily looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Can I confess something?" she asked and James looked at her with intrigue. "It doesn't really bother me."

"What?"

"You messing up your hair."

James laughed, and she laughed with him. They went silent again, and the dark-haired boy was surprised to feel Lily's head on his shoulder, her soft perfume flooding his nose.

The truth was that she had done it without thinking, it had been a completely spontaneous gesture, and when she noticed it, she decided not to move away. It felt nice.

James puta n arma round her shoulders, and she didn't pull away either.

"What's that?" Lily asked suddenly, raising her head from his shoulder, and he dropped his arm. His eyes followed the redhead's gaze, trying to discern the green figure shining in the distance. The girl's gasp made him understand.

"The Dark Mark!" she screamed, terrified.

The Potters' house was placed in the outskirts of Godric's Hollow, and the attack had clearly been in the town. He had to get Lily somewhere safe.

"Go inside, Lily." He said firmly. She stood up, pulling his arm.

"You think I'm leaving you out here, alone? You're so insane you might go over there! It would be suicide."

She was right, and besides, he could tell how nervous she was, and he thought it would be better to walk her in. He held her hand and pulled her towards the house, and when they entered, he knew the rest of them had seen it too. Some were running, some others were getting together to decide on what to do.

He bumped into someone. Sirius.

"James! What's happened?"

"Death Eaters down at the town! Find Bree and go to our room. Go with Lily. I'll see if my parents need help."

He was already running before finishing the sentence, because he had seen his mother giving instructions to a group of people. When he got there, he saw his father.

"Dad, what's-?"

"They've attacked some of the muggle homes. It's very likely that they've murdered some of them." The man answered. "They've set part of the town on fire, your mother's going with some men and women searching for victims. We believe they're gone, but some of us are going over there to help, at least until the Aurors arrive."

"I'm coming with you."

"No." The man stated, so firmly that his son didn't argue. "The ones who aren't staying have already dissapparated, we're trying to organize the rest of us. Don't let your friends leave the house, the town isn't safe. They could use the floo network, but it'll be better if they stay, we don't know if it's been the only attack, and they better not leave alone if they don't know their houses are safe. Ours is protected, you know that."

James nodded and ran upstairs, hoping his friends were there. They weren't in his room, and he was already leaving to look for them when Sirius entered with the two girls, who seemed rather frightened.

"My father's told me that, as you can't apparate, you should better stay here. They could barely hear noises coming from lower floors, so he assumed almost everyone was already gone. "It's safer."

They both nodded, and the redhead asked:

"Can I borrow an owl, James? My mother is gonna worry…"

"I'll bring it. Could you take them to the other room, Padfoot?" the boy nodded, making a head movement to the girls, who followed him.

In silence, Sirius made the beds with a wand flick. Lily noticed that Bree made sure not to look at him, but she didn't think it was the right time to talk about it. Shortly afterwards, James arrived with a piece of parchment, a featherquill and a nice brown owl. While the redhead wrote, he seemed to remember something and, waving his wand murmured _Accio. _Instantly, two pyjamas arrived floating to the room.

"Here you go," he said, giving them to the girls. "You'll be alright?" They both nodded, too worried to speak.

Sirius followed his friend towards their room, undressing without a word, and James did the same.

The four of them got into their beds in silence, but sleep would take a long time to arrive.

…

Lily hugged her body; she wasn't cold, but she shivered as she looked through the window and thought about what had happened so close from there, and about what was going on in the wizarding world. She feared for her friends and for herself, but also for her parents. What would happen if they got to them? What would happen if the wrong side won the war? She remembered what James had told her once, about them being able to take part in this. He was right. It didn't feel right to ignore all of that, to wait for someone else to solve it… they had to do something.

The huge house was dark and quiet; the Potter weren't back yet, though that was understandable, as the Death Eaters had probably caused a lot of damaged at Godric's Hollow. Then she heard a strange noise and turned around, scared.

James had stealthily gone down the stairs; he knew the steps, so he knew where to step on to keep the wood from creaking. He didn't expect to find anyone there, so he was startled when he saw the thin figure in the dark. He approached carefully, and at first, she didn't seem to hear him.

The thick hair fell long, red and shining on her back. Her lovely profile was facing the window, the white skin freckle-less, the bright green gaze lost in the landscape. She raised a hand and absently scratched her long, elegant neck with her slender fingers. When he noticed she was only wearing the pyjama's shirt he had given her over her underwear, he blushed. The trousers had probably been too big for her. He couldn't help running his eyes over her, stopping at the bare feet, the long legs, the narrow shoulders, the way the shirt tightened over her firm breasts. He let out a choking noise and the redhead turned around, startled.

"James." She whispered, trying not to make noise, though it was unlikely that Sirius or Bree heard her from their rooms. The boy approached to her and leant on the countertop in front of her.

"You couldn't sleep?" She shook her head. "Me neither." He tucked behind her ear a red lock of hair that had left its place, and to his surprise, she didn't hit his hand away. She didn't seem aware of how little clothes she was wearing, although the boy was having a hard time trying to ignore it.

"That's why that slide you gave me comes in so handy," she commented, trying not to talk about the attack "Don't know if I ever thanked you properly… It's really pretty. I hadn't worn it since…"

"Since your father's death." He finished for her, biting his tongue when he realized of his mistake. Lily looked at him with surprised.

"How can you know that?"

"I was there." The boy admitted, messing up his hair, embarrassed. She didn't say anything, but her heart was touched by the fact the boy had attended to her father's funeral even when they weren't friends yet. She kept getting to know James better, and she liked even more each new thing she learnt about him.

She watched him open the cupboard and take out two cups. He was really, really good-looking, but that wasn't the reason she found him so attractive. It was his sweetness, his determination, his bravery that made him attractive, apart from other aspects of his personality, like his charisma trustworthiness.

The dark-haired boy waved his wand and the cups were filled with a dark, foamy liquid.

"Are you alright?" he asked, handing out a cup at her.

Lily dared to smile a little at the concern in his voice.

"Yeah. Just worried. All this is… horrible." She took a sip. Chocolate. "The war, the murders, this is all…" her voice broke, and the boy felt the impulse of hugging her. She dried her tears with a sleeve and took a big gulp of chocolate. The thick liquid went down her throat, calming her down in the process.

"I know." He said, sipping the hot beverage too. "It's insane what this psychopath is doing. Don't cry…" he approached to her and left the cup on the counter.

Then Lily looked up and in those wet and intense green eyes he saw strength and decision.

"I want to fight too, James." She left the cup next to his, looked and the window and then back at his eyes. "I've thought about what you said. I wanna fight. This has to end."

"We will," he said firmly. "We'll fight."

They looked at each other for a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. She was lost into those hazel orbs, into that boy that had come to mean so much to her before she could realize and do something about it. He could only think about those fiery green eyes, that sweet mouth, and the warmth of Lily's body close to his.

Without thinking, without reflecting, he held her face in his hands and kissed her.

Her lips burnt. He felt her body loosen into his arms and her eyelashes stroking his cheeks, her hands grabbing his chest, her mouth kissing him back… Until she pulled away as if she had received an electric discharge.

He looked at her, disconcerted. Her eyes were wide open and she took a few steps backwards, moving away from him.

"James, I… I'm sorry, I…" She turned around and ran up the stairs.

The boy looked at her abandon the place with a bitter expression in his face. He took the cup and finished the chocolate in one gulp, putting it on the table with a sharp blow and then heading to his room. Maybe Sirius would understand what the hell had just happened.

…

**Answers to reviews:**

**Potterwatch: **Hahah, poor thing, Jamie! And I agree, Lily should loosen up a little! I'm glad you liked his reaction to her dress! I had fun imagining it! Oh, and thank you SO much for the warning, you were right, I checked the chapter and it was so, so full of mistakes it was awful! Can't believe I uploaded that. I mean, all of my chapters have mistakes, some because I'm distracted, some because I type them wrong, and some because I don't know they're mistakes xD. But this one was just horrible, horrible, horrible; guess I was hurried and tired when I finished translating it. I think I fixed it now! Thank you very much for your review! I hope this one was a little better regarding the mistakes, and I hope you enjoy the plot as much as you enjoyed the previous one!

**HarryPotterAlways**: Hahaha, I'm making you suffer, aren't I? Well, this one had a little kissing for your enjoyment, but no, I'm sorry, can't get them together yet! Hahah. Thank you very much for reading and encouraging me! And thanks a ton for your review :)

**Knut**: Duuude, hey there! Look at you, with a new account and everything :P. Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! Hope you like this one!

**Wheezy**: Hey! Welcome! Awww, it's so nice to hear that! I'm so, so glad you enjoyed it so much! And I'm flattered it's so late and you just kept reading! And yayy I'm super happy you like the ships! Hahah, well, about Pettigrew, we had to keep it real, right? With his personality it would have been hard for him to get a girl while in school (I would say ever, but I can't be that mean). But even though I gave him no girl cause I think it's more real that way, I kinda secretly enjoy the fact that he has no love life xD. I hate him just as much as you, and sometimes I really don't like writing him, but meh, he was there, so I have to… Anyway, sorry for the rambling, and again, thank you very, very much for taking your time to review my story! I'm glad to have you on board! And I hope you enjoy this chapter as well :) Like I've recommended to other people, maybe you should get an account! Even if you don't publish anything, it'll probably be easier for you to keep track of this story and others you may be reading, by subscribing to them and stuff :)


	37. Chapter 37: Friends, lovers, what?

**First of all, I wanted to tell you guys that, re-reading Philosopher's Stone in English, I realized that they all said 'Happy Christmas' instead of 'Merry Christmas'. I'm guessing British people say it that way? I hadn't noticed the difference before haha, but I edited the previous chapters. If any of you is British (or American, but knows British English – remember that's not my mother language, neither British nor American), tell me if I was right correcting that! Well, now, about what really matters:**

**Chapter 37 up! Please, tell me what you think of it. It took me a while to write it because I found these other series I really enjoyed (Maze Runner) and I read them all in a row, I confess… The truth is that this chapter isn't that good and nothing very exciting happens, but there's some stuff worth telling 'cause they're needed for the story …**

**…**

Lily shifted on the bed, frowning without opening her eyes at the powerful ray of sunshine entering through the window and hiting her right on the face. She covered her head with the pillow, groaning; since when entered so many light through her room's window? Even when she forgot to lower the blinds …

Then she opened her eyes, her head still covered by the pillow and her face buried into the blankets, and she remembered it. She wasn't at her bedroom. She wasn't at her house. She was at the Potters', and a group of Death Eaters had destroyed half of the town.

"Bree," She called her outloud, suddenly sitting and narrowing her eyes, trying to hide from the light behind her hand. "Bree, are you awake?"

The smal bulk on the adjoining bed moved a little, and she saw a dishevelled, curly head slowly emerge from among the sheets. Her eyes as two blue slits, she sat up, holding her curls with one hand and covering her mouth with the other, yawning before looking at her friend.

"I'm awake," she answered with a sleepy voice and another yawn. "I didn't sleep quite well."

"Me neither," said the redhead, rubbing her eyes and yawning too. She let herself fall on her back again and her friend made herself comfortable, sitting with her legs folded and leaning on the bedhead "What time is it?"

Her friend looked at her wrist watch before answering.

"Eleven." After saying it, she gave a start, looking at it again to make sure it hadn't been a mistake.

"Eleven!?" Lily repeated, suddenly sitting up again. "It's so late! I've told my mum I was staying at your place, to avoid worrying her with all the Death Eaters thing, but I should be back by now."

As she talked, she stood up and begun gathering her clothes, entering the bathroom and beginning to dress with the door ajar.

As she unbuttoned her shirt, she stopped for a second in front of the mirror and she blushed when she remembered it was James', and even more when she thought she had been using only that when she had met him in the kitchen: it was so see-through her black bra showed through the fabric, and she was wearing nothing to cover her long, white legs. Then, her fingers froze on one of the buttons and her eyes opened wide in surprise. She hadn't only ran into James at the kitchen, she had kissed him! Merlin, she had kissed him!

She wanted to leave the bathroom so quickly that she bumped into the doorframe, provoking her friend's laughter, who was still sitting on the bed, a little more awake now.

"Are you alright?" Brianna asked, coming closer to the edge of the bed and trying not to laugh. Lily stuck her tongue out at her, rubbing her forehead.

"I'm fine," she said. Her friend looked at her with an eyebrow raised: she was still wearing the half-unbuttoned shirt.

"Weren't you getting dressed?" she asked, freeing her bare legs from the sheets. She was only wearing a shirt too; the trousers were too big for her.

"Yeah, it's just that…" the redhead approached and sat on her own bed, biting her lip and looking at the door. "Nothing."

Bree decided not to push it, and when she looked up, Lily knew there was something going on with her too. Then she remembered Sirius had kissed her and she was about to start asking questions, but she noticed Bree's attitude and restrained herself.

The brunette was twisting the shirt's sleeves, too long for her, and was looking at the floor with a worried expression on her face. It took her some minutes to start talking:

"Would you mind if we… left as soon as possible?" She asked, startling the redhead, who decided to be straightforward about it.

"What's happened?" She asked. Bree sighed, deciding to tell her; after all, she had witnessed the kiss, and she couldn't deny it now.

"He's kissed me and then he's said it didn't mean anything," She summed it up. Lily was surprised; she wasn't expecting something like that from Sirius. "He knows what I feel for him, I know he does, last night I realized about it. And still, he's kissed me."

She looked up and the redhead saw her eyes were full of tears.

"Oh, Bree…" She stood up and hugged her friend, who let out a sob.

"Ugh, I'm such an idiot," she said, letting her hug her. "But it's been _so _humiliating, Lily, and it hurt so much." She sobbed again, and Lily hugged her tighter.

"I know." She moved awat a little and Bree dried her tears, rubbing her face vigorously.

"I'm fine," she said, sighing and putting her curls back on its place. "Thanks, Lils, I'm fine already." She smiled a little and the redhead sat on her bed again. "It's just that it hurt. I would have wanted that at least he told me the truth, whether he feels the same or not."

Lily nodded quietly, staring at her friend. She knew that, despite all that had happened, she was determined to keep her relationship with Sirius just as it used to be; she had probably forgiven him already. The redhead wondered if it weren't a disadvantage sometimes, having such a huge heart …

"I'm not mad at him anymore," Brianna said as if she had read her thoughts. "But I need some time to process it, and I would rather not stay here for too long."

Lily nodded staring at the floor and bitting her lower lip again. She wasn't planning on telling any of her friends, but after what Bree had told her, she felt like she had to. Besides, Brianna would keep the secret, and wouldn't torment her with questions. She would just listen to whatever she was willing to tell her and wait patiently until she was ready to tell her the whole story.

"I've kissed James," she let out without looking at her. She realized the girl had gave a start, but she hadn't said anything about it. "Well, he's kissed me, actually. But I kissed him back …"

She looked up and gave her a crooked smile.

"So leaving soon certainly suits me."

Bree stood up, grabbing her clothes and gesturing her to go dress up.

"Too many kisses for one Christmas," she mumbled, managing to get a smile from her friend, who headed to the bathroom and ended up getting dressed.

…

"You what!? You snogged the redhead? Are you kidding?" Sirius exclaimed, sitting up on his chair and placing back on its dish the bun he was about to gobble.

"Shhh, Padfoot, remember they're still here!" James shut him up, leaning over the table, nervous. "And we didn't… _snog," _he said that last word with a hint of reproach "It was just a kiss."

"And you say it so lightly? Merlin, James, you've just had it off with the girl you've been drooling about since first year!" The dark-haired boy said, laughing a little. After James' withering look, he tried to lower his voice "Sorry, but I still can't believe it, Prongs. I mean, I'm happy for you, but I was expecting a little bit more enthusiasm from you. Or the redhead isn't such a good kisser?" He laughed again.

"We didn't have it off!" James replied in a hiss, and then added (with such an stupid and cheesy tone that Sirius rolled his eyes) "And she is a great kisser. It's been…"

"_Please_, Jamie, save me the awfully soppy and corny stuff," He cut him short, though he simled sideways. He was genuinely glad for James.

"Don't be happy for me, anyway," The dark-haired boy replied, changing his loving smile for a bitter grimace. "She ran off."

"What?"

"She ran away. I kissed her, she kissed me, and she ran."

Sirius burst out laughing and his friend threw him a withering look.

"Hey, sorry," he said, patting his back and going serious. "For real. But it's an improvement, isn't it?" James looked at him skeptically, so he kept saying: "C'me on, Prongs, what were you expecting? That she suddenly changed her mind and you two were happily ever after?"

"Kinda." He smiled sideways.

"Think 'bout it, mate, the girl hated your guts for quite a long while, now you're her friend; then you go and kiss her and she realizes she probably has feelings for you; her head must be a mess, give 'er some credit."

"Yeah, I guess," James toyed with a toast.

"At least she ran because of how _she _felt. At least you didn't cock it up in the worst possible way, like I did." He said, grimacing. His friend gave him an encouraging smile.

Sirius had already told him how he had behaved with bree, and the boy had agreed with him that he had been a pig. A really, really stupid one.

After scolding him and letting him complain with self-pity, he had told him that first he had to find out what he actually felt, before making things even more complicated. Once he was sure of what he wanted, he could talk to Bree and do something about it, but he ahd to be sure, because otherwise, the girl could turn out even more hurt.

"Uhm, good morning." Bree's little voice startled them, and they both stood up when they heard it. Both her and Lily were dressed again, clad with their coats and gloves.

James couldn't help fixing his eyes on the redhead and thinking again on all that had happened between them. After that kiss, as brief as it had been, he hadn't been able to sleep, laying face up on the bed, thinking about Lily, her sweet lips, her warm body, the soft smell emanating from her hair.

"Good morning," the dark-haired boys said in unison. The girls smiled lightly.

"What d'you blokes want for breakfast?" James asked, approaching the cupboard to take out two other cups.

"Oh, no; we're not staying for breakfast, thank you," Lily rushed tos ay, maybe too quickly. James frowned a little. "It's late, we should be back already." The girl explained, though her friend's expression proved that there was more to it.

"Oh! Okay. Sorry I didn't wake you earlier, I didn't know. You're going by the floo network? We'll walk you to the living room." He said, and they both headed there, along with the girls.

"Don't worry, you couldn't know," the redhead said. It was strange that she was the one talking and that Bree was the one being quiet, though that last thing wasn't actually so unexpected; she was probably still hurt for what had happened with Sirius.

He noticed his friend didn't say much either, and judging by his expression, he felt extremely guilty. James thought it was a good decision what Sirius did; shuting up and not trying to force a conversation with Brianna.

However, the strangest thing was the naturalness with which she treated him. Maybe it was because she was trying to ease the tension there was between Bree and Sirius, but it was still odd that she didn't seem inhibited around James. Then his heart sank when he thought that maybe she hadn't felt a thing when they had kissed, and that she had only wan away because she regretted doing it.

"Well, thanks a lot, James," Bree said, smiling widely and kissing him on the cheek. "I had a great time last night. And thank you for letting us stay after…"

"You're welcome, Bree. We'll be seeing you." He replied. The girl smiled at his friend and nodded, and hen dissapeared into the green flames.

"Well, I'm taking the Knight Bus," Only then James seemed to notice Lily was still there, and he looked at her startled. She laughed softly.

"My place isn't connected to the net, remember?" she said with a smile. He messed up his hair.

No, James told himself, she _must _had felt something when they had kissed. He was sure of it, he had seen it in her eyes when she had pulled away. If now she was acting so carelessly it was because she desperately wanted to hide her feelings. She wanted to pretend she didn't feel anything, that she only wanted to be his friend. Well, at least he had that, for now.

"I had forgotten," he said as his friend took Lily's arm and dragged her towards the door.

"Your parents aren't back, James?" The girl asked, looking at him over her shoulder with a worried expression on her face.

_James. _It sounded nice when she said it.

"No, they aren't; don't worry, though, they've sent a Patronus saying everything's fine. It's been a tough night." His countenance darkened a little when he thought of his mother; she was too weak to go through stuff like that. "They say hi."

The redhead stopped at the threshold and turned around, smiling at them.

"Thanks," she said, looking at James in the eye. "I had a lot of fun…" She stood on her toe tips and kissed him on the cheek, and he couldn't help ruffling his hair again. Then she looked at Sirius.

"It was nice spending Christmas with you two," she said and hugged him. James looked at him scowling a little, trying to decide whether he preferred a good-bye hug or a kiss on the cheek.

"It was nice spending Christmas with you and your legs, redhead," Said the dark-haired boy, winking one of his grey eyes. The girl rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Bye," she said, turning around and running towards the street. They watched her raise her wand and get into the bus.

"You're a complete goner. You know that, right?" Sirius told him as they both watched the strange vehicle disappear at full speed.

"I do."

…

Just like during her previous trip, Lily, too lost in thought, was only vaguely aware of paying the young man and saying hi to the driver.

She sat on her assigned place and her green gaze got lost through the window as she thought of all that had happened during that Christmas.

Her mind wandered about all she had went through with James those days; on one side, she had felt closer to him than ever, and on the other, she had wished to run away each time they had been only inches away from each other. She had finally understood that the boy she now knew was the real James, and she had loved finding it out, just as she had loved learning about him and his life. She was fully aware, now, that he meant a lot to her, and that she liked each new thing she found out about him; she liked them a lot. It had been extremely hard for her to admit to herself how attracted she had felt to him, and the reason she had ran away each time she had felt butterflies in her stomach or the desire to kiss him.

For a moment, she felt guilty for thinking about all of that; about James, about herself and what she felt, instead of worrying about the Godric's Hollow attack. But she couldn't control the direction her thoughts were taking, and slow and unavoidably, they led her to rekindle the kiss.

Vulnerable as she was, standing there at the kitchen, crying, she had opened her heart to James without a doubt: she knew him now, and she knew she could trust him. The boy had opened up to her too, and knowing he had always been there for her, even during her father's death, had touched her in the deepest of her sould. Then she had looked him in the eye and she had told him she wanted to fight, and in those hazel orbs she had seen the same determination she had felt. And she had wanted him to kiss her.

Almost as if he had read her mind, James had leant, holding her face and joining his lips to hers. She remembered how she had felt back in that moment, as she pressed her body against his and drove her fingers into his chest: she had felt loved and safe. She had felt that all that mattered in the world were him and her. She had felt the warmth of his body, the safeness of his arms, the hunger of his lips… And as if something had exploded inside her head, she had realized she was kissing James, brusquely pulling away and running upstairs.

She remembered her confusion, her surprise. She had kissed James! She had been wishing for it to happen all afternoon long, but when it had actually happened, she had ran as if he had the plague. And it was that, what had actually confused her in the first place had been that urge to kiss him. She didn't understand what she felt for the boy, she didn't understand all that happened to her body and mind when he was around. She didn't understand anything!

Now she had had time to think and analize her feelings, she had understood everything.

She was falling for James Potter.

Shit.

…

"Ickle Remsie! And little Wormy!" Sirius exclaimed when his friends showed up in the kitchen.

"What's up?" said the lycanthrope, hugging his two friends. Peter did the same, and then took one of the buns that rested on the table.

"Happy Boxing Day*," James said, greeting them "You came by floo powder? They both nodded-.

"I went to Wormtail's and then we both came here," Remus answered, leaning on the countertop as Peter sat at the table next to Sirius, who was still eating. "We didn't see your parents. How did it go last night? Anything interesting to tell us?"

"Oh, not that much," Sirius replied with an enigmatic smile before James could open his mouth. "We had a great time. I've kissed Bree, I've screwed it up and she's sent me to hell; James' kissed Lily, who flew off; and some Death Eaters attacked the villaje, that's where Prongs' parents are. Oh, and we really liked your gifts, thanks a lot."

"_What!?_" exclaimed Remus and Peter in unison.

"Death Eaters? At the village? Said the lycanthrope, his honey eyes wide open.

"You've kissed Brianna?" said at the same time the sandy-haired boy's pitchy voice, who, despite the surprise, was stille eating.

"And Lily? You've kissed Lily? How come she didn't disfigure your face?" Remus was saying "Did she sterilize you?"

"She almost sterilizes me, but that was before, and it was an accident. I think you should better sit and we tell you how it all went." James sighed, approaching to the table, followed by Remus.

They narrated their Christmas to their incredulous friends, who ended up reaching the same conclusion as James about Sirius' behaviour, and encouraged James after knowing what had happened with Lily.

"I can't believe they've attacked Godric's Hollow," said Remus when they had finished discussing everything else. "This is getting worse and worse"

"James has said it already, we need to fight." Sirius agreed with a seriousness very unlike him. Peter shifted on his seat, terrified.

"We need to do something 'bout it. We should talk to people who think like us," said the dark-haired boy, adjusting his glasses, which were slightly crooked since he had lost them in the snow "Maybe with Dumbledore himself."

Remus and Sirius nodded, but Wormtain didn't say a thing. They remained quiet for some minutes, and a solemn silence flooded the place.

"Well," Padfoot commented, again in his careless and arrogant tone. "Before talking 'bou how good we're doing with the Marauder's Map, why don't you tell us 'bout yout Christmas?"

Remus grimaced, calling everyone's attention.

"You first." Said Peter, and Remus sighed with frustration.

"I've spent the first part of my holidays looking for a job," he said, surprising the rest "Not beacuse I need it right now, but we have a little more than a year before we end Hogwarts, and, being realistic, despite my marks, I don't really have much of a chance of getting a job," Sirius tried to interrupt him, but the boy didn't let him, repeating: "Just be realistic. So I thought 'bout trying to get something now, with enough time… And I think it's been the right decision."

"What d'you mean? You got something?" James asked, unable to refrain himself. The boy shook his head.

"It's been even harder than I thought. I did the good thing starting looking now, 'cause I think it'll take me more than two years to get one." Dissapointmend and helplessness in his voice were palpable.

"C'me on, Moony, you must be exaggerating," Sirius said, in a fruitless attempt to cheer him up.

"No, Padfoot, I'm not. It's impossible. They seem interested until they hear 'bout my… condition. It would probably be better to hide it, but I doubt that's legal. I've tried to be discrete 'bout it, and I hope that no one at Hogwarts hear 'bout it, at least for now. But it's impossible for me to get a job, I don't know what I'm gonna do when I leave Hogwarts."

They tried to cheer him up, but it was in vain; when Remus entere done of his depressive pits, it was too hard to get him out of there; the only solution was to change subject. However, the boy wasn't done:

"And that wasn't the worst of all," he said, smiling sadly at his friends' questioning eyes. "I met Rebecca's parents."

***flashback***

Remus flopped face up on the bed with a frustrated sigh, rubbing his face so strongly that he hurt himself. He felt helpless and angry at life. He got it, he was a damn werewolf, and he couldn't do anything about it! Couldn't his life be _normal_in any aspect because of this stupid disease?

Right then, something knocked on his window. He stood up and opened it a bit to let in a majestic, unknown owl that waited with a note tied to her leg. He closed the window and unfolded the parchment.

_Hello._

He turned the piece of parchment around, but it didn't say anything else. He looked at it, frowning, wondering if it was some kind of joke, when he heard someone knocking the door. He headed there still looking at the note in his hand, and only looked up when he opened the door, meeting Rebecca's smiling face.

"Becca!" He exclaimed, surprised, looking alternatively at the note and at her, and then laughed. "Come on in."

The Ravenclaw rushed to enter, rubbing her cold nose. She was wearing a knitted hat on her blonde hair and her cheeks were blushed because of the cold, but her catlike eyes sparkled naughtily.

"I thought I could come to check on you, see how your holidays were going," she said, taking off her gloves and hat. "I've missed you."

Remus smiled, wrappign his arms around ehr waist and kissing her sweetly. Even though they had decided to take things slowly at the beginning, their relationship was better and better, and he was already comfortable calling her his _girlfriend. _Being with her, he was genuenly _happy._ He felt like when he had first met the Marauders, and like when he had found out they wouldn't reject him for being what he was.

She laughed against his lips, pulling away a little and looking at him in the eye.

"Hello," she said, standign on her toe tips to kiss him on the nose, making him laugh again. She had arrived in the right momento, when he needed something to make him smile, something to make him think that his life could be normal. When he thought about it, he felt something heavy falling in his stomach, a reminder that this couldn't last forever. "You look hotter." She kissed him again, putting her arms around his neck and stroking his hair with one hand as he drew her closer with a hand on her waist and another one on the back of her neck.

"Wait," She said, suddenly separating from him "Your parents aren't home, right?"

He laughed, raising an eyebrow.

"Look how demure you can get," he commented, and she hitted his shoulder, giggling.

"I doubt you want to make a show of indecent exposure in front of your mother." She replied, but he got closer to her again.

"Don't worry, we're alone." She gave him a quick kiss and pulled away, holding his hand.

"C'me on, show me your place."

"It's not too big," He begun saying, leading her a bit reluctantly to the kitchen. His home wasn't much, and, as far as he knew, the Moons were a really wealthy family, and even though Rebecca didn't care at all about stuff like that, he couldn't help feeling embarrassed.

"I love it," she said, sweetly caressing his hand when they finished at the lycanthrope's room "And the colour of your quilt is my favourite." She commented, letting his hand go and jumping on the bed. The boy approached and sat next to her, and the blonde lay with her head on his lap.

"Purple?" He asked, laughing softly, stroking her hair and face.

"Uhum," she answered, half closing her eyes. He outlined with his finger her jaw, her nose, her eyelids and soft lips, and she sighed with pleasure. "I really have missed you, Moony." She said.

"Me too."

Rebecca sat up a little, sitting on the boy's lap and kissing him pasisonately, burying her hands in his chest. He wrapped her with his arms and let her lean on him, laying on the bed and caressing the girl's curves.

"Becca," he suddenly murmured against her hair as she kissed his neck.

"Hmm?"

"What time is it?" He asked, pulling away a bit. She seemed confused, but glanced at her watch.

"Almost four o' clock. Why?"

"Errr… my mother arrives at four." The girl tried to get up so quickly that she fell to the floor, hitting her head against the night table.

"Remus!" she complained, rubbing her head as the boy stood up and tried to help her "And _now _you remember that?"

"Sorry," he said, ashamed. "I got distracted."

Rebecca burst out laughing.

"Well, I accept my part of the guilt," she said laughing, trying to arrange her hair and clothes. "Merlin, Remus!" she laughed again and the boy joined her.

They sat on his bed and she put her head on his shoulders and held his hand. He put his other arm around her shoulders and placed his cheek on her blond hair.

"I'm so happy you're here," Remus whispered "I needed you."

Those three words filled Becca's heart. Even if the blonde was sure about what she felt for the lycanthrope, and also knew that he loved her, she couldn't help thinking about how fragile their relationship was, because every time she looked at the boy in the eye, he saw a trace of doubt and pain. It wasn't hard to understand why; Remus didn't like himself and he seemed to believe he didn't deserve to be happy. When he forgot about it, when he left his lycanthropy aside, she had hope, but always, unavoidably, that doubt filled those honey eyes again, and Rebecca lived with the fear that he told her that they couldn't be together anymore. And when he told her that, she knew there would be nothing she could say to convince him. It was _him _who had to convince himself that he could have a happy life by her side.

"Then I'm glad I came," she said, smiling, removing her head from his shoulder and kissing him on the lips. "Come, now I'll take you to my place."

She stood up and pulled his hand, then saw him hesitate, and she laughed.

"Remus Lupin, are you scared?" she said mockingly "My parents aren't supposed to be home, and even if they are, who cares? Come on, and we celebrate our pre-Christmas afternoon."

"Fine," he said with a smile, and followed her to the fireplace.

"I go first, I'll wait you on the other side," Rebecca said winking and walking into the flames. Remus hesitated again, but finally followed her.

When he fell on the other side, still coughing because of the ashes, he looked around. The house looked huge and elegant, and the boy felt so out of place there that he felt like going into the fireplace again.

"I know," said Becca, watching his face and helping him stand up "Wish it was more like your place. I don't offer you a 'tour' 'cause I don't wanna bore you. I'm starving," She pulled his hand and dragged him to the dining room "C'me on, there must be some chocolate somewhere."

Remus chuckled and let her drag him, but when they arrived at the dining room he gave a start, and his girlfriend seemed quite surprised as well. Sitting on the table, reading with concentration _The Daily Prophet, _there was a broad-shouldered man with square jaw. Hi wore his hair really short, which was graying already, and he had a couple of small blue eyes that glued on them when he heard them enter.

When he recognized him, his heart sank. He worked for the Ministry, and he had been there during one of his job interviews, when he had asked about the free spot in the Defense Department (one of his first interviews, when for some reason he had thought he might have a chance of getting a job in the Ministry. He had soon come to senses, looking for less important jobs, though with the same results.)

Next to him, a beautiful blond woman who wore an elegant black dress was drinking a cup of tea. Her hair was put up and her face was a lot like Rebecca's: catlike brown eyes and full lips, although some tiny wrinkles showed her age. She smiled widely when she saw them.

"Becky!" said the woman, and Remus supressed a smile at the nickname "We weren't expecting you until later." Then she looked at the boy and smiled wider.

"Uhm, I wasn't expecting you to be here," she said, looking at the boy as if to apologize. She sighed "This is my boyfriend, mum," The boy gave a start; he wasn't expecting her to introduce him that way.

The woman's eyes shone with joy, while the man only stared at him, the newspaper in his hands. Becca gave him a slight push and he approached to introduce himself.

"I'm glad to meet you!" the blonde woman exclaimed, offering him her hand. He shook it and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Moon. I'm Remus Lupin."

The woman's smile froze on her face, and she fixer her eyes on her daughter, who looked at her defiantly. The boy pretended not to notice the change in her, and turned to say hello to the man.

"And you too, sir." He shook his hand, but the man didn't say a thing.

"Well, well, sit," told him Becca's mother with a sickeningly sweet, false smile "Make yourself comfortable. Can I talk to your for a second, Rebecca?" And she dissapeared through the door before her daughter could answer.

The blonde glared at the door her mother had just went through and then looked at the boy with shame. He looked at her and gesticulated with his lips, without pronouncing the word: "Go"

He closed his eyes for a second, still standing, facing the door. Why had he tried to fool himself? From the beginning he had known that relationship couldn't go anywhere. He had thought it could last for a couple of years, but that idea had been stupid as well. That would only make everything worst, when it ended.

"Sit down, kid," said the man, and Remus startled; he had forgotten he wasn't alone. He looked at him and did as he told him, trying not to panick "Excuse my wife."

Well, he wasn't expecting _that_.

"She'll see sense. She would've probably reacted the same way even if you weren't… you know. She wants Becca to marry someone rich and pretends her to be happy doing absolutely nothing and being a trophy wife,"

He let out a harsh laughter. Remus was really surprised at his honesty, but he remained quiet, listening.

"As if she didn't know Becky well enough," the man looked at him in the eye, leaving the newspaper aside and sighing "Look, boy, I'm sorry I can't help you with your job. I'm really sorry. You have excellent marks and seem like a nice kid, but there's nothing I can do. And I can't do anything about my wife either, but I know Becca loves you,"

Remus smiled and the man smiled back and kept talking

"And I love her too, even if Rebecca doesn't see it sometimes. She'll probably tell you I'm too hard on her, and maybe I am, but I just want what's better for her. And if you can make her happy, fine by me."

Right then, Rebecca entered the dining room, enraged.

"We're leaving." She said, approaching to Remus and grabbing his hand without looking at her father. Remus turned around to look at him over his shoulder, letting the girl drag him.

"Thank you, sir," he told him, wishing he understood how endlessly grateful he was for his words.

The girl dragged him to the door, leaving the house and slamming it closed. She kept pulling his arm for a while, ignoring the freezing wind that lashed her face and the snow that buried her up to her ankles as she walked. Finally, he stopped and forced her to do so.

"Becca, you'll end up catching the flu, stop already," she stopped, furious, but didn't look at him. Her face was covered in tears and it was evident she really wanted to scream. He made her look at him, holding her face with one hand. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not alright! My mother is a hypocritical snob, a-"

"I don't care what she says," he said, interrupting her. Actually, he did care, but he tried to drown the guilt he felt, the hatred of himself. He did it for Becca, and the one who had given him the strength to do so had been her father. "Do you?" They looked at each other's eyes and she seemed to relax.

"No. I don't care."

"Fine. Then stop worrying." He hugged her and she squeezed him tightly.

"Sorry I spoiled your day." She said, her voiced muffled on his chest.

"You've actually cheered it, I've already told you my holidays hasn't been that cool." He replied. Rebecca pulled away a little, taking his hand and pulling it.

"C'me on, I know a café nearby that makes the best chocolate cake ever. And you can tell me why your holidays were so crappy." They both smiled.

"Let's go, then."

***end of flashback***

"Well, Moony," said James when the by was done speaking "It didn't go that bad." Peter nodded.

"Yeah, seems like a nice bloke; the psycho blonde's father," Sirius commented, agreeing with his friend "Who cares what his stupid wife has to say?"

"It matters 'cause actually, she's right," Lupin said sadly. His friends rolled their eyes.

"Cut the nonsense," James cut him short, standing up and looking at his watch. "Let's do something productive."

…

The rest of the holidays passed without major inconvenients, and the New Year was received with great expectations and different promises from the gang. It was good for everyone to spend some time at home, but no one regretted it when it was time to go back to school.

Lily rushed into the train in the last minute; she had had to take a taxi because her mother was sick in bed and Petunia had refused to take her, alleging that she had to meet Vernon in three hours. She walked across the aisles in a rush, looking for the compartment where her friends were so that she could leave her trunk before heading to the prefects' meeting; thank God she had already put on her robes.

When she found them she yenked the door open and met the smiling faces of her three girl friends, of Eli, and three of the Marauders.

"Lily!" Becca, who saw her first, exclaimed. Instantly, James stood up and the rest of them turned their heads. "I haven't seen you in ages. How were your holidays? Potter here was telling me…"

"Sorry, I'm late," Lily interrupted her panting. She arranged her hair, which fell covering half of her face, and pushed the trunk inside the compartment, as Arya, her owl, screeched with all her might. "See ya blokes later," she said, and blew them a kiss.

She was already closing the door when she realized Eli was still in there, braiding Sam's hair, and she opened again.

"Eli!" The boy gave a start. "You've spent almost your whole holidays with her, Merlin! To the prefects' wagon, now!" and she left after making sure he was following her.

"What, now you stand up each time a girl enters the room?" Said Sirius with irony, looking at James, who sat down "Or each time a redhead enters the room?" His friend pushed him over Rebecca, who hit him on the head.

"And what d'you say 'bout Perks, huh?" said James, trying to change the subject. The girl looked at him, irritated. "As tough as she pretends to be during the trainings, and it turns out that deep inside she is softer and sweeter than candy floss."

Bree and Peter giggled.

"I wouldn't mind sterilizing you to prove you wrong," she grunted, though without the bad mood she always carried.

"Merlin, you're kind of sedated after being with Eli," Sirius commented "Otherwise, you would have already set Prongs' hair on fire."

Sam waved her wand and Sirius begun laughing uncontrollably until she said the counter spell, almost with boredom.

"Shut it, Black." She said.

"Anyway," Sirius kept saying falteringly, trying to breathe normally "I think Lily already took care of sterilizing him."

Bree burst out laughing and Peter, who had already heard the story, laugh timidly too, while James glared a his friend. Rebecca and Samantha looked at him with interested.

"Oh, yeah?" asked the blonde. "How's that?"

The rest of them embarked in the tale of their colourful Christmas, avoiding the detail of the mistletoe and the night kiss between James and Lily, although, of course, neither one of the dark-haired boys could avoid thinking about both events while they listened to everyone else talk about their holidays. Rebecca had spent most of them in boring meetings, except for that afternoon she had visited Remus (though she omitted the argument with her parents; she could tell her friends about it later), and New Year's Eve, which she had spent at the Rivers'. Peter had spent the first week of his holidays at his home with his family, and the rest of them at the Potters, with Remus. Lastly, Sam had enjoyed the first half of her holidays without leaving Eli's side, either at his home or at the Perks' (She could avoid the jokes suggesting they were already a married couple), and the New Year's Eve with her parents.

The journey was pleasant and fun, and Sirius was surprised that his relationship with Brianna had went back to normal. Well, almost; she acted as usual, treating him as always and laughing with him, but the boy had stopped hugging her and playing with her curls all the time, maybe fearing her reaction, or maybe fearing his own. If it was possible, he was even more confused that all had gone back to 'normal'.

"I'm gonna look for the candy cart," Brianna said when they were about to arrive. At the expression on her friends' faces, she added: "I'll get something chocolate for Lily; even if we're about to have dinner, she'll go crazy without her daily ration of sweets."

"Bring something for Remus too," Becca asked, laughing "In some things, they're too much alike"

Bree left the compartment, walking around the train looking for the cart, immerse in her thoughts. She gave a start when she felt a hand seizing her wrist and she screamed, suddenly turning around. She was received by Sirius soft laughter, though it sounded more like a bark.

"Sorry," he said without letting her go "Sometimes I forget everything scares you." Bree pulled an outraged expression. "I've come to talk to you." He said, getting serious.

Brianna was surprised; she wasn't expecting Sieius to want to have a serious 'talk' about what had happened during Christmas, because there was nothing that could be more opposite to his personality. She would have expected him to pretend nothing had happened, mentally begging that she did the same thing; because as bold as the boy might be, he was just as coward when it came to talking about his feelings. But there he was, telling her he wanted to talk. For a moment, Bree wished he hadn't done so, but she shook the idea out of her head: she always thought clearing everything up was better. Besides, Sirius had already been behaving weirdly during the trip.

"Uhm, fine," she said, following him to the last wagon and stopping at the empty aisle. The boy looked up and she could see in his grey eyes that he was sorry, that he wanted to make it up.

"Nana…" He started, and she smiled a little to encourage him to continue "I'm sorry 'bout what happened. It was stupid."

Bree raised her eyebrows and he, frustrated, tried to make his point:

"I mean what I did, the way I acted. I don't want that… I'm sorry, okay? I don't want it to-"

"It's fine, Sirius," she said softly, looking at him with those round, blue eyes. He fixed his eyes on them and wondered if he had ever told her how pretty they were. "I understand. Yes, you behaved like an arse, but it's fine, I've forgiven you and I'm not mad anymore. Actually, you hurt me, and that affected me more than the anger,"

"I'm sorry," He repeated and she could tell he really was. Pain was visible in his grey eyes, just as anger at himself for having hurt her. "I've always known I could do this to you, hurt you like that; I never wanted to -"

"It's okay, really;" she cut across him again; it was hard for her seeing Sirius like that, struggling with words, trying to express how he felt. The truth was that she had forgiven him already, and she had decided she didn't want their relationship to change after what had happened. She had decided she didn't care if Sirius had felt something when he kissed her or not; if he had regretted it or not, or if he had decided to do it or he had just kissed her and that's it. She had decided to overcome it; she would be his friend, and that was it. "Forget it." She said. That seemed to shcok the boy, but she kept talking:

"I've already forgotten about it, I've forgiven you. Yes, you've made me mad and you've hurt me, but I'm over it. Maybe it was for the best; the fact that it happened that way, 'cause I don't hold no grudge and I really believe I can be your friend, as always"

The boy stared at her.

"Just forget it, okay?" she asked, and smiled. "I wouldn't want to lose you for a trifle like that one"

He nodded and smiled, opening his arms. She buried herself into them, hugging him tightly and letting out a giggle.

"I'm glad we're fine." She said against his chest. He entwined one of her curls with his fingers and pulled it..

"Me too, Bree."

But his smile faltered a litte. Forget it, be friends. Did he want to be just her friend? He wasn't sure.

Had he lost his chance?

…

The castle went back to life, and the students were received with piles of homework and a lot to study. January quickly went by, and nothing out of the ordinary disrupted the students who, having came back with renewed energies, got ready to study for the exams, which wouldn't take long to arrive.

Even though nothing too worrisome happened inside the school's walls, we couldn't say the same about the chaotic wizarding world, where the war was reaching alarming proportions. It was impossible to know who was in which side or what place was safe anymore, and it was rumored that many parents wanted to take their children out of Hogwarts, fearing what might happen to them being far from them.

The attack at Godric's Hollow had been one of the first ones of a long series of damages and murders, and not a single day went by without an owl bringing black news. Lord Voldemort was creating an army which grew bigger as time passed, and only a few dared to confront him. Wizards, witches, murderers and torturers, werewolves, psychopaths, inferi; the community lived in fear of being attacked or of opening a letter to receive the news of someone's death. Locked up inside their houses, the doors blocked, the windows covered, protective spells and secret passwords; no one dared to help a neighbour, because no one knew who to trust.

Despite the terror tinting the lives' of any sensible person, not everything was sadness and destruction, and there were those who knew how to enjoy the little joys in life, appreciating those around them, aware that they could lose them anytime soon. Samantha and Eli were an example of that: they were so much in love, and they seemed to be trying to recover all the years they had lost for not telling each other how they felt. Nothing had changed, actually, in their relationship with their friends or with each other, other than the fact that they could kiss, hug and cuddle instead of only wishing it silently. There was no doubt for anyone at Hogwarts that they would be one of those couples marrying as soon as they left the school, as many young people were doing, fearing that the war might impede them from being happy in the future. Neither Sam nor Eli bothered in denying it anymore.

But they weren't the only happy couple between a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw: The relationship between Remus and Rebecca was getting better and better, and no one was surprised any more when they heard that the quiet, good-looking prefect was dating that brazen, curvy sixth-year blonde. But actually, they both knew that not everything was rose-coloured, and Remus's qualms about his lycanthropy hovered over their happiness like a shadow, but they had decided (separately) that they would forget about it for now, and live the moment, even when they knew they would eventually have to talk about it and make a decision.

Bree and Sirius, on the other side, had gone back to normal, and they both treated each other with the same familiarity and affection as always, as if nothing had happened that Christmas. Not all of their friends had approved their decision (Although Lily had kept shut, Bree had confessed her friends what had happened between her and the handsome marauder under the mistletoe, and all that it had brought along), but when they saw them as happy as always, they had doubted if their qualms had a reason.

The truth was that, deep inside, not everything was as it used to. Brianna had did as she promise, making all she could to forget what had happened. What had happened had been to her some sort of epiphany; it had made her understand that maybe Sirius wasn't for her, and it had helped her to, little by little, start erasing the Marauder from her heart, at least from the part that dreamed to be in his arms. That had numbed the pain that invaded her and impeded her from being the boy's friend, and that way, she had been able to be truly the same as she was in her relationship with Sirius.

The dark-haired boy, on the other hand, had done all he could to be the same around Bree, but he had done it for her and not because he really felt it. Bur despite his smiles and hugs, inside him was taking place a struggle, between the Sirius who yearned for her lips, who had understood he had fallen in love with his best friend and needed to be with her; and the Sirius who said that this was better for her, that he couldn't stand hurting her again, and that, besides, was scared. Scared to feel what he felt for Brianna.

Sirius wasn't the only dark-haired Gryffindor with girls' problems, as James lived frustrated with himself and with Lily for how things had gone after Christmas at Godric's Hollow.

When they had returned to school, he had feared the redhead wouldn't want to talk to him for having kissed her, and that she would accuse him, as she always had, of considering her just another girl in his list. But none of that had happened, and in his moments of desperation, James almost wished things had gone that way; maybe it would have been better than standing a Lily who didn't seem to remember having kissed him, and that behaved nic and smiling while he wished to kiss every inch of her body every time she was around, remembering the taste of her mouth and the heath of her body, the smell of her hair, the tickling of her eyelashes and the softness of her face.

The worst of all was that the girl didn't seem to be pretending. Her laughter, her jokes, everything felt genuine, and even though James adored spending the afternoons joking around with her and the rest, he was sometimes disconcerted about her attitude. When he asked for advice, everyone's answer was unanimous: talk to her. But, was it worth it, risking all of it? Risking their friendship, when it had taken him years to get it?

James didn't know what to do, but he didn't think he could stand it much longer. Finally, his chance arrived on Valentine's Day…

…

*Boxing Day: For the non-British people out there, I was reading some stuff on British Christmas and I found out that apparently, they have this thing called Boxing day (the day after Christmas) which they celebrate.

…

**Answers to reviews:**

-**Potterwatch**: YAY thank you! I'm so glad you liked it so much! Aw, glad you liked the initial Bree/Sirius part, and I'm sorry for the last one (I promise they will get together, but Sirius is so stupid, and as you probably saw in this one, Brianna is behaving quite stupidly as well). And thank you! Glad you liked both the final kiss, and the death eaters attack; and glad I surprised you, 'cause that's what I meant to do! And YAAAY thanks again, your comment made me so so happy! And no, you're not too critical, thank you for pointing it out, you were right, too many mistakes. I should really get a beta reader :/; I always end up translating the chapters too fast and too late at night, and they end up being a mess, especially when they are that long.

Well, anyway, I hope this chapter wasn't too much of a disappointment. I didn't like it, and nothing too exciting happened, but I guess some of this was necessary to keep the story going. Hopefully I'll do better next chapter! And Thank you very much for your review!

-**Wheezy**: Hey there! (I've seen you created an account, awesome!) Hahaha, well, the fact that you're shocked is a good thing, right? Sorry to leave you hanging! Especially since this chapter was crappy and didn't solve anything – it's more of a transition chapter. Glad you liked last one so much, though! I am a grammar nazi too, at least in my native language – in English I am not, 'cause well, I have loads of mistakes. I don't mind if you correct them, 'cause I really want to learn!

I'm really happy to hear you liked all that scenes so much! And again, sorry this chapter wasn't worth the waiting, hopefully next one will be as good as the previous one! And thank you very much for your review!

-**Knut**: You caught me, it _was _meant to torture you xD Sorry this chapter didn't solve anything, just wait for the next one, I swear It gets better! And thanks for your review.

-**Shalalalalalala**: Thank you! Glad you like it! It's a great compliment, the fact that you read it all in a row! Hope I won't disappoint you!


	38. Chapter 38: I'm in love with you

_Before the story I wanted to tell you, in case you were interested, that I've just uploaded a one-shot I had writen a while ago for a contest and I just found there in my computer. It's called Opportunities and it's about Remus, it's quite brief, I just mentioned in case you cared. Now:_

**Hello everyone! I'm back, and sooner than expected. This chapter is brief (it should've been part of the previous one), but whatever, I hope that at list it's worth it! I'll be waiting for your opinions:**

…

"Are you sure, Lils?" Sam asked, leaving the bathroom as she brushed her hair. Bree was ready, sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for her friend.

"I'm sure, have fun," Lily answered, barely looking up from the book she was reading. "I'll be fine."

"Bye, girls!" Mary said, leaving the room with a smile; she had a date with the seventh-year she was seeing.

"Tell us how it went!" Brianna yelled at her when she was already gone, but they could hear her giggling as she went down the stairs.

Sam looked at Lily again, leaving the brush on the night table, and her friend stared at her raising her eyebrows.

"Go!"

They finally did as she told them, going down the stairs slightly doubtful; for some reason, their friend had decided she would be spending the 14th of February at Hogwarts instead of going to Hogsmeade with the gang.

When they were almost at the Common Room, they saw the marauders waiting for them around the fireplace. At the sight of them, Sirius whistled.

"It was for Bree, not for you, Perks," Sirius cleared up when they arrived to his side, and the girl threw him a poisoned look that made him laugh. "Just kidding; you look pretty as well." Sam grimaced, but she took her bangs out of her eyes, slightly blushed.

"Ready?" asked Remus, tucking his hands in his pockets and gesturing to the portrait. "Becca and Eli are waiting for us at the Entrance Hall."

"Let's go, then. Nervous, Remus? I've heard it's your first Valentine's Day oficial date." Bree asked with a smile, taking the arm Sirius was offering her and walking with him towards the portrait.

"Wait, where's Lily?" James asked, stopping halfway.

"She's staying," Sam answered, going through the potrait hole after Peter.

The group left the place talking animatedly, complaining about the rain that had just begun to fall. When they arrived at the ground floor, they met the two Ravenclaws waiting for them at the foot of the staircase. The Hall was full of students waiting for their dates or their friends, and the sound of their conversations covered the one of the rain tapping the windows.

"Hey," Becca greeted the, approaching to them with a smile and planting a kiss on Remus' lips, who put his arm around her waist and smiled.

"Well, now's when we say goodbye," said the lycanthrope, waving at everyone. "Maybe we'll see you later at The Three Broomsticks."

And they walked away. Despite they had been dating for a while now, that day it was, like Brianna had said, their first 'official' date (if they didn't take into account that afternoon before Christmass that they had had a coffee after leaving Becca's house), and they both felt like silly, romantic fourteen-year-olds, nevous and anxious about that day.

"They are so cute," Bree commented, watching them leave with a smile on her lips. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Everything's cute for you," he said, as he used to do when his friend used that adjective, which, by the way, was quite often.

"Well, shall w ego?" Asked Eli, who had already appropriately greeted his girlfriend and was waiting next to her, holding her hand.

"You're coming with us?" Peter asked, puzzled; they hada ll assumed Eli and Sam were leaving on their own too..

"Yep," Sam answered, smiling at the boy. "We are not really into all the Valentine's fuss. We prefer going with you blokes."

"Besides, you're already used to us snogging in public, right?" Eli added, making the marauders smile, while Sam threw him a reproachfull look.

"You really _are _like an old married couple," Sirius commented, and Bree laughed. Sam looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

"The fact that I'm in a good mood doesn't mean I am capable of supressing my killer instincts. I'd advise you to watch out, Black."

"We should better go before it starts raining harder." Said Peter, looking at the brunette, who seemed to be the only one who ever paid attention to him.

They all nodded and headed to the doors, but Sirius suddenly stopped.

"Wait. Where's James?"

Everyone looked at each other, puzzled. He was with them just a momentago!

"I think he didn't come after me, and I was the last one." Peter said shyly.

"I went after you," Sam corrected him, frowning a little. "And now that I think about it, I was the one to close the portrait."

"Do you really think it's that odd?" Asked Eli, who had already opened the door and stared at them with his eyebrows raised. "Lily's staying at the castle and James is missing. Can't you do the math?"

When they arrived at Hogsmeade, the rain was pouring heavily, watering down their plans of going window shopping and stopping by Zonko's before going to The Three Broomsticks. The decision of heading straight to the dry and warm shelter of the pub was unanimous and, crowding together under the shop's roofs, they quickly walked there.

When they entered, Sam groaned: the place was crammed with students and other clients who looked for a haven.

"There's no way we'll find seats here," Eli complained, moving away from the door tol et pass a short wizard who ran to the counter.

Sirius smiled arrogantly.

"Leave that to me," he said, removing his arm from Brianna's shoulders and approaching the counter, leaning on it followed by his friends. "Rosie!" he exclaimed with sycophancy when the curvy woman appeared carrying an empty tray. Rosmerta's face lit up when she saw him, and a smile from ear to ear appeared on it.

"Sirius!" She said, approaching to them and exaggeratedly swinging her hips. Samantha made a disgusted noise. "I've missed you. Where's James? Isn't he here today?"

"He's left me," he said, pouting sweetly and making her roar with laughter "D'you have a seat for us, Rosie? Looks like the place's full…"

"Of course I have a seat for my favorite costumer," she said, winking and gesturing them to follow her.

Once at their table, and after ordering Madame Rosmerta five bottles of butter beer, Sirius looked at his friends smugly.

"Manwhore" Sam whispered, though it was loud enough for him to hear. The dark-haired boy stared at her, outraged.

"Well, then go outside and enjoy the rain, Perks." He said bitterly, taking his silky hair out of his eyes and stucking his tongue out at her.

"It's been great, Sirius, thank you." Eli rushed to say, kissing his girlfriend before she could say anything else. She glared at him, but, at his puppy eyes, she smiled.

Sirius smirked, pleased, and while he wasn't looking, Bree rolled he reyes with a slight smile.

"Isn't that Remus?" Peter exclaimed, sticking his face to the window. Everyone turned, but there was no one there anymore.

"Outside? Under the rain?" Sirius asked skeptically "I think you're hallucinating, mate."

"I'm telling you, it was Remus!" said the kid, still looking outside "He was running after a blonde who was just as soaked as he was."

"Running under the rain? A day like today?" the grey-eyes boy repeated; he still couldn't believe it.

"Sounds like Becca." The other three said in unison, and then laughed. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Sometimes I forget that bird is literally a psycopath." He said. "Ouch! Eli, control your girlfriend."

He added after receiving a kick, rubbing his knee and glaring at Samantha. She smiled angelically.

They chatted for a long while, laughing and joking, but also talking about more serious topics, but there was something that didn't leave Sirius' thoughts during the whole day: Bree.

It went all completely naturally, and they both behaved as usual, but seeing Sam and Eli together, the dark-haired boy couldn't help thinking about Brianna and him. Every time Eli put his arma round Sam's shoulders, he wanted to do the same with Bree. Every time the girl cuddled against the Ravenclaw's side and laughed, he wished Brianna to do it. Every time Eli stroked Samantha's fingers, he felt the impulse of extending his arm and touching Bree's hand. Every time Sam buried her face into the boy's neck, he almost felt Brianna's breath on his. Every time Eli leant and kissed her, was it on the forehead, the nose or the lips; he imagined Bree and him were the ones doing so.

It was imposible to deny it, he was in love with her and he had spoiled everything for being a bloody coward.

The qualms he had about hurting Bree, even if they were real, had never been the true reason he had tried to avoid in any way he could that their relationship turned in something other than a frienship; what had gotten into his way had been cowardice.

Yes, he was afraid of hurting Brianna, and he knew he was quite capable of doing so, but he was so selfish that he could have let all of that aside and tell her how he felt; if that was the only thing standing between them and a relationship, he could have quickly forgoten it, because he was so in love with Bree, because he wanted to have her in his arms so badly that he would have succumbed to that wish.

But no. That wasn't the only thing. He was scared. Scared to be in love. Merlin, he was even scared of thinking about that stupid word! Up to then, he had done all he could to banish it from his mind, trying to describe what he felt with any word but that one. But it was impossible, because that's what it was: love. He loved Bree. And maybe she had loved him too, but he couldn't know it anymore.

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye; she was laughing at something Eli had said, with that bubbly, countageous laughter, covering her tiny mouth with a hand, her round dark eyes shining amused.

How had he been as stupid as to lose her?

…

Their laughter was all that could be heard, apart from the rain falling on the street, the roofs and the few passer-bys that hadn't found a place to shelter yet.

Rebecca lay back against the establishment's wall and slipped on it, sitting on the floor, laughing. Remus, almost breathless, lay on the wall too, but remained standing.

"Well, I caught you," He said when he could breath normally again, turning his head to look at the blonde, who raised an eyebrow. "Will you give me my chocolate now?"

"Mmm I don't know," she said childishly, taking a huge bar out of her pocket and observing it. "It's the last one." He burst out laughing.

"And why do you think I've been chasing you around the village?" He sat next to her and tried to snatch the chocolate.

"That's not chivalrous at all," Becca said with a malicious smile.

"It's chocolate. I'm never chivalrous when it comes to chocolate, especially if they've stolen in from me." He replied, extending his arm again; but she switched the bar to her right hand, raising her arm in order to keep it away from him.

"So, what are you willing to give me for it?" She said, raising her eyebrows and flirtatiously battering her eyelashes. Remus swallowed loudly.

"You shouldn't do that on the street, y'know? You could provoke a crash or something." He commented, leaning and kissing her as she laughed. "Was that enough?" he asked, pulling away a little, staring at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Mmm," Rebecca pretended to think about it. "I think not." She kissed him clutched to his chest as he pulled her closer to him with a hand on the back of her neck.

"What 'bout that?"

She shook her head, disheveling the soaking blonde hair.

"Don't think so"

He laughed again, and then kissed her again.

"And that?"

"Maybe." Another kiss. "Fine, you win." She said, handing him the chocolate and kissing his nose. He laughed, parting the chocolate and giving her half of it.

"We should go to The Three Broomsticks," he commented, wolfing down his chocolate in two bites. "You'll get sick."

Rebecca rolled her eyes, standing up.

"I've already told you I never get sick. Stop worrying about me. Besides, you're soaking wet too."

He stood up and kissed her.

"Right, but I'm a werewolf." She rolled her eyes and he laughed, taking her hand and heading to the pub.

Even though he joked about his lycanthropy, Rebecca couldn't help feeling a jab in her chest every time they mentioned it, because, deep inside, that same lycanthropy was the one that made the foundation of their relationship so weak, and the one that could shatter it in the blink of an eye, if Remus allowed it.

They were happy, yes, happier than ever, but when she saw it, when she looked into his eyes, she saw it. She saw the guilt, a guilt that consumed him and flooded his thoughts. Why was Remus unable to love himself? Rebecca did all she could, all that was within her reach to strenghten the boy's self-esteem and try to sabe their relationship, but sometimes she helpless and frustrated, because not everything depended on her.

Sometimes, when Remus had a good day, she had hope and was optimistic about their future; but some others, especially after every full moon, she thought it was all in vain, that he wasn't ready, that he still had to overcome the issues he had about himself before thinking about being with her.

She tried not to think about it, but as time passed, it was harder to ignored, because she got more and more attached to him, and she needed him so much that she wasn't sure anymore if she would be able to stand it if he left her.

They entered The Three Broomsticks holding hands, soaking as if they had jumped into the lake and shivering so much their teeth chattered. The place was crammed, and even standing on their toe tips, they couldn't see their friends.

"Remus, handsome," called him Madame Rosmerta from behind the counter. When he and Becca turned around to see her (The blonde couldn't help narrowing her eyes with suspicion), the woman made a gesture with her hands towards the tables at the back of the place. Remus smiled, thankful, and headed there with Rebecca.

"So you get on quite well with Madame Rosmerta…" She commented with indifference while they made way among the crowd. Remus chuckled.

"Yeah, mainly thanks to James and Sirius; they are the ones who flirt with her."

"She's a gorgeous woman. She has her curves." She kept saying, and this time, jelousy showed under her apparently indifferent tone. A smile flickered across his lips.

"I guess. But I like curvy _blondes._" He said, kissing her sweetly.

"We already have a snogging show; Perks and Eli took it," said Sirius' annoying voice. "Look for something more original."

Rebecca separated from Remus and stuck out her tongue at the boy, making herself room next to him while her boyfriend sat in front of her.

"I told you it was them!" Peter squealed as soon as they sat. Everyone looket at them raising an eyebrow.

"Merlin, Moony," said Sirius, moving away from Becca as she shook her hair, soaking him. "You must be really into this nutcase. Running under the rain, dear lord…"

…

Lily comfortably settled on the fluffiest sofa at the Common Room, which was almost empty except for some first and second-years. She took out some books, parchment and a feather quill, leaving the rucksack aside and getting ready to make her homework.

They had tons of stuff to do (she didn't know how her friends managed not to do them and then just keep approving the subjects), but once she caught the pace, she quickly finished the Potions and Defence essays; now she only had Runes, Arithmancy and Transfiguration. She threw the quill to the table and rubbed her eyes, sinking even more into the sofa with a book opened on her lap; despite the fire was burning in the fireplace, she was really cold, probably because she was barefoot. She curled up, trying to warm up a little, and a couple of arms appeared from behind the sofa and covered her with a blanket.

She tried to turn around to see who was it, but he had already went around the sofa and smiled leaning against one of its arms.

"Hello, Lily," said James merrily, and she was so surprised to see him that she said nothing. "I've thought you were cold, so I've brought you a blanket."

"Uhm, thank you, James," she replied, bewildered. It had been a lovely gesture, but she was still very surprised "What are you doing here?"

The boy gave her a crooked smile and she rushed to say:

"I didn't mean it to sound like that," she laughed, and he beamed. "I mean, weren't you at Hogsmeade, with the rest?"

He shrugged his shoulders, sitting on the sofa's arm.

"Didn't really feel like going," he said, messing up his hair. "I didn't know you were staying too."

He smiled angelically and she had no idea he was lying.

"Where were you? I hadn't seen you, I could have gone have breakfast with you or something," she said, shifting a bit on her seat and covering herself with the blanket. He nodded towards the table were the first-years were making their homeworks.

"I was sitting over there, w-" The boy bit his tongue before saying he had been watching her; he didn't want to sound like a psychopathic stalker. "Helping them with their Transfiguration homework." Well, that was true, too.

Lily heard a hundred of voices in her head saying "Awwww!", but she ignored them and stopped the exclamation from coming out of her lips. Instead, she said softly:

"That's sweet," James smiled so much that his smile seemed to go around the whole circumference of his head.

"What were you doing?" He asked, taking Lily's rucksack and leaving it on the floor to sit next to her. She snorted and crossed her eyes.

"Homework." James laughed.

"Yeah, I should do that too… Someday."

"Why not starting now?" She said, pushing a book towards him along with a quill and more parchment. James looked at her half closing his eyes, and it was Lily's turn to smile angelically.

"Come ooooon, and you can keep me company." She said, blinking exaggeratedly and making him laugh, not to say his stomach turned and his heart stopped for a second.

"Fine," he said, stretching the sylable with resignation and making himself comfortable with his legs folded.

The talked trivialities for a while as they both worked on their Transfiguration's compositions, and before they noticed, they were already finished. It was truly incredible how at ease they felt with each other, but neither one of them stopped for a second to think about the situation; neither Lily wondering how on Earth she had reached that level of trust with 'Potter'; nor James, analyzing everything she said or thinking a hundred and one ways of wining the redhead over. They just hanged out, and they had a great time.

"So," James said then, writing the full stop to the essay and leaving it on the table. "Are you gonna tell me why did you stay in the castle?"

She looked up, startled, and met his hazel eyes glued on her.

"I don't know what you mean." She said, writing down some more words on her parchment and leaving it aside. She felt his eyes fixed on her and she looked up again.

"C'me on, Lily," he said, tilting his head a bit and smiling lightly. "You love Hogsmeade. Honeydukes, to be more precise. Why didn't you want to go?"

Was it so obvious that something happened to her? Well, clearly, it was to James. Lily hesitated for a second, but then decided to tell him.

"It's my sister," she confessed with a sigh, leaving the book on the floor and sitting facing at him. He did the same, watching her eagerly; he probably wasn't really expecting that the girl would tell him what happened to her. "I've already told you that her, uhm, that I'm not her favorite person,"

James nodded, though he couldn't understand how someone could not like Lily.

"Actually, I've never told you the whole story," she continued, staring sadly at him. "She didn't automatically hate me for being a witch," she explained. "She wanted to be one, too."

_Of course,_ James thought, _jealousy_. Jealousy always plays an important part in rivalry among siblings, but in Petunia's case, it had grown so much that something had broken inside her, damaging forever her relationship with Lily.

"She even wrote to Dumbledore," The redhead kept saying, deciding to omit the role Snape had played in the whole thing, though she couldn't avoid the jab she felt in her chest when she thought of him. "She was so sad, so hurt, and she drifted away from me and forced me to do the same."

"I'm sorry." Said James with honesty, and she smiled at him.

"But I always had hope, y'know?, the hope that everything could go back to what it was. I always thought she'd grow out of it… But now she's started dating this Vernon bloke," her voice changed when she mentioned him, it turned bitter, but she chuckled. "Sorry. It's just that the bloke is really hilarious, you should meet him. Anyway, I have never laughed at him or anything; Tuney didn't even want me to meet him. I just saw him for a second, and she managed to drag him out of the house and away from me"

"Why?"

"Guess she's afraid he'll find out what I am. I used to be sure that Petunia's anger was due to… to the fact that I had something she couldn't have, something that also made my parents proud. But in Vernon, she has found a person so, so normal that it bores you, and I think that's why she clings to him so hard. I believe that, whatever it was that she felt before because I was a witch, now has turned into honest loathing."

James could see how sad Lily was, even though she tried to hide it; after all, she was her sister, and it must had been hard for her that she had drifted away for something she couldn't change.

"Anyway, this is the first time she hasn't written me for my birthday," She said sighing. Her birthday had been on January the 30th, and they had celebrated it at the Common Room with butter beers that the marauders had smuggled from Hogsmeade. "I know it's silly, but until this year, even though she barely talks to me, she had written. My mother's tried to excuse her in her last letter, but today she's admitted that Petunia hasn't forgotten; she just didn't want to write to me. I had to insist a lot for her to tell me. I know it's stupid, my birthday isn't even such a big deal, but it was just one of the things I clutched to in my relationship with Tuney."

James hated Petunia. He hated her so much for making Lily so sad. And he hated Vernon, too, because he was partly guilty.

"I'm really sorry," he said, looking into her eyes and placing a hand on the girl's forearm, which rested on her crossed legs. He didn't know what else to tell her; he couldn't promise her that Petunia would change her mind, because he doubted she would. "But hey, hasn't it been one of your best birthdays? Or you have already forgotten how Sam ended up trying to tuck the cards into Sirius' nose?"

Lily burst out laughing and James heaved an inaudible sigh. He adored watching her laugh. He adored watching _her. _He adored her bright, large green eyes, her perfect teeth, her small mouth and the musical sound of her laughter. He adored her long, silky red hair; her white skin, her long neck, her slim fingers. He adored being there, sprawled on the sofa with her. He adored the way she moved, the way she raised her eyebrows, the way she wrinkled her nose when it itched. He adored her sarcastic remarks, her explosive temper, her intelligence and sweetness. He adored her.

The redhead was aware of the intensity with which the boy was staring at her. She had been observing him too all the time they had been together; the colour of his eyes and the dark dots around its pupils, the untamable dark hair, the indelible smile; the strong jaw line and his thin but muscular body; his agile and quick movements, his brief but contagious guffaws and how delicate his hands could be; but above all, his way of looking. The way he looked at her, to be more precise.

And now that look was more intense than ever, and Lily was suddenly conscious of his proximity. He extended his arm to tuck one of her red locks behind her ear, and in the moment his thumb brushed her cheek, she made an abrupt and slight movement backwards, almost involuntarily. An angry expression appeared fleetingly in the boy's face, but it quickly disappeared and was replaced by a hurt one. James sighed, and his face turned to look frustrated, but he finally shook his head a little and sat straight.

"I need to talk to you, Lily." He said with determination, staring firmly into her eyes.

_No, no, please, we don't have to talk_, she thought, sensing where the conversation was going.

"Don't pull that face to me," he scolded her, and a small smile flickered across the girl's lips. "You don't have to say anything, just listen, okay?" He asked. She thought about it for a second and then nodded.

"You have no idea of how much I value this friendship," he started, and she smiled in a gesture that James found encouraging. "So, so much. Especially considering all that had to happen so that we could be friends." Another smile. It was a good start. "But I have to be honest with you, Lily. That's not enough for me." He made a pause, trying to work out the girl's expression. "I suppose you've already guessed that, considering I've kissed you in Christmass. I love being your friend, Lily, but that just isn't enough anymore, and I think it's better to be sincere about it. But I don't want to lose you."

He made another pause, but the redhead's expression was still indecipherable.

"If what you want is a friendship, then I understand and respect that." His eyes were still glued to hers. "I'd rather be your friend than a stranger to you. I don't want to lose what we have; I don't want to lose _you._" He repeated.

"I don't want to lose that either, James," she said in a whisper, and that instilled courage to the boy, who felt his heart beating faster and a warm feeling flooding him.

"I'm in love with you, Lily," he let out. She wasn't expecting that, but she managed to control herself, and the way her heart pounded was only noticeable to her. "I'm in love with you and that's why being your friend isn't enough for me. But if that's what you need right now, if that's what you want me to be, then I'll just be it."

He stopped again and hesitated for a second, but then said:

"But you can't ask me to stop trying to make you want me to be more than a friend to you, because I won't. I can be your friend, but you have to let me try. You have to let me try to win your heart. You have to stop trying to push me away every time you feel I am too close, either emotional or physically. You have to stop struggling so hard to stay in your comfort zone; you have to promise me that you'll follow your heart, that you'll let me try."

He went quiet again, and he thought he could see a spark in the redhead's green eyes, though he couldn't tell what it meant.

"Will you let me? Will you let me get close to you, show you who I really am? Will you let me show you that I love you?"

The following seconds were literally painful to James, until she broke the silence with an almost inaudible whisper:

"Yes. I'll let you"

He smiled faintly and took her hand, which she didn't move away.

"Thanks. Then I'll wait, and I won't lose hope, at least not until you tell me I don't have a chance with you." James whispered right when the Fat Lady's portrait was opening. "I can be very patient if I want to."

When he heard their friends' voices, he let the redhead's hand go, thinking that the rest had arrived with perfect timing; not having to be alone with him, the girl would have time to process all that had happened between them, and it was the distraction he needed to avoid jumping across the place, squealing excitedly.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he told Lily before the gang saw them. He leant and kissed her cheek, daring to add: "The first of many we'll spend together."

…

**Anwers to reviews:**

**-Knut**: Haha, exactly! Sirius and Lily are so silly, they should just give in. They know they love Bree and James respectively, but hey, if they weren't so stubborn we wouldn't have a story, right?

-**Shalalalalalala** (I'm never sure if I got the amount of 'la' right in your nickname :P): Thank you! Wait, estoy confundida. Or confused? Am I in YBWT English version? O la version en español? Haha, I'll just write in English now to be sure, but your review confused me, for a second I wasn't sure in which of the two versions of the fic I was. Well, anyway, thank you so so much for your review! I'm glad you like the story, hopefully I won't disappoint you :3

Pd: Ahora revise tu perfil y sé que sos de Perú haha, aunque estés leyendo la versión en inglés xD. Qué mareo de idiomas!

-**Potterwatch**: I'm glad you liked it, even if nothing too interesting happened! Aw, I'm glad you like those too as much as I do, but yeah, they should already get over it and be together happily ever after (I say this as if I weren't the writer, but hey, the characters do whatever they want, they don't even listen to me). Glad you liked all the thing bout Becca's dad. And yeah! Lily finally knows she is falling for him. Oh, hopefully I didn't disappoint you! Leaving that last line I think I created to many expectations and I don't think this chapter reached them, but oh well… Thanks for your review and for encouraging me to keep on writing!

-**PadfoorandProngsEverdeen4eva ** (wow, what a nickname!): Thank you so so much! I'm glad you liked it so much, thank you for the review!

-**Weasley02:** That's such a huge compliment! Please don't stop reading haha! I'm glad you liked it so much, I hope not to disappoint you with the rest of the story! Thank you for the review :)


	39. Chapter 39: Easter and a motorbike

**Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay; I must admit I was having writer's block, but I finally sat on the chair and wrote. Hope you enjoy it! I'm not quite sure of how I feel about it**

…

Lily's green eyes were fixed on the handsome, dark-haired boy who absently scribbled on the parchment, observing every one of his movements. When he looked up, the redhead quickly looked away, pretending to be focused on her essay, but when he looked back at his parchment, her emerald eyes glued to him again.

Lily was marveled at how patient James was. Since they had had that conversation, weeks ago, she had started noticing all she did for her, how he treated her so sweetly and chivalrously, how he was always trying to make her laugh… Actually, their relationship had changed very little, but there was something different: Lily was now perfectly aware of all those things.

But also, even though James behaved just like before, there was something else that had changed: he was still her friend, acting like it, but it was also clear by some words, gestures or smiles that he wanted something more. It was as if he wanted to make clear that he wouldn't try anything until Lily let him, but that he still needed her to know that he was truly in love with her

And to Lily, knowing that he was willing to be so patient and to wait and try to win her over meant a lot; it moved her in a way she didn't think that could affect her.

Lily had already understood that she was falling in love with James, and it made no sense denying it, but she had never suspected how much he loved her; yes, she had started to get that he was in love with her, but what she saw in his eyes every time she looked at him was something else, something she hadn't understood, or hadn't believed before, and only now she was getting because James was making an effort to prove it. Lily was learning to let him love her, and was learning too that maybe it wasn't _wrong _to fall for him.

That, maybe, falling for James had always been unavoidable.

The boy looked up again and seemed surprised to meet her green eyes, but she didn't look away. The redhead smiled lightly and he smiled back, staring at her from the other side of the table, unable of looking somewhere elese.

It inhibited her, the way he looked at her as if she was the only thing that mattered in the world, as if he was willing to do aything for her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the boy making a slight movement forward with his hand, as if he wanted to touch hers (which rested on the table) but couldn't decide whether he would do it or not. She had noticed him doing the same thing in several occasions; stretching his arm to stroke her hand, placing a lock of hair behind her ear, putting his hand on her back, but he always regretted it, probably fearing that the girl would reject the contact. This time, he seemed to hesitate too, but finally his fingers brushed the girl's. It was only a moment, a slight caress, and then he moved it away as they both looked somewhere else, but Lily felt her hand burn there where James' fingertips had been.

"Where are Remus and Sirius again?" Eli asked absently, looking up as he finished writing a sentence, looking alternatively at James and Peter, who looked at his friend with a terrified expression. Bree looked up with interest.

"I dunno, doing stuff," James answered, looking back at his parchment as Lily (who blushed) did too.

Actually, Sirius and Remus were giving the last retouchs to the Marauder's Map, which was almost finished; James had opted to stay 'studying' with the rest to make the most of his time with Lily, and Peter had decided to join him, while the other two went across the school with the Map, making sure it worked properly.

Luckily, Eli didn't ask more questions, because now all his attention was for the redhead's sudden blush, who tried to ignore her friend's suspicious looks.

"I'm _sick _of this." Sam complained frustrated, letting her head fall on the table and grimacing when her forehead hit the hard surface. "Sixth year was supposed to be calmer. After last year's O.W.L. we were supposed to have a year to rest before the N.E.W.T"

"We _are _already preparing for the N.E.W.T." Lily said, still not looking up in order to avoid meeting James look, which she felt glued to her. "We have them next year, but one year of preparation isn't enough."

Rebecca rolled he reyes, but Sam, her forehead still on the table, murmured:

"I know. But that doesn't mean I have to stop complaining." Lily laughed.

"You should relax," Becca added, comfortably sitting on the chair, leafing through the book's pages with no interest. "Life isn't about the exams."

"You said it," James seconded her, closing the book, and Brianna followed his lead. "No more homework."

"But our future depends on our exams." Said Peter, raising his glassy eyes from the parchment as he quoted the phrase that Professor Hopkins repeated nonstop.

"C'me on, Wormy," said Becca, sitting straight on the chair and looking at him with an eyebrow raised. "With all that's going on outside of Hogwarts, worrying about the exams? Well, yeah, they are important, but if things keep this way, soon it won't matter how many N.E.W.T. approved who; what will matter is that we know how to defend ourselves and that we fight against the Death Eaters."

The atmosphere radically changed after Becca's speech, turning solemn and loaded with worries. Sam had raised her head from the table and held Eli's hand, who looked at her with a slight wrinkle between her eyebrows. Peter seemed petrified out of fear, Bree concerned, and Rebecca exhibited a seriousness very unlike her, who (just like Sirius) only seemed to stop joking when they talked about subjects like that one. James and Lily looked at each other, both of them remembering the talk they had had months ago now, at the boy's kitchen,

"She's right," sighed the redhead, leaving her notes aside. It's hard to focus on the exams if you think about the situation the wizarding world's in."

"Yeah; it's hard to believe exams are useful at all," James added with a sigh. "Looking for a job isn't going to be the first thing _I _do when I'm out of school."

"What do you mean?" asked Eli, frowning a little, his fingers still interwined with Sam's.

"Well…" he started to say, looking at Lily, puzzled that she hadn't talk about it with the rest. She stared at him, shrugging her shoulders, and James felt a warm feeling in his chest knowing that she had trusted him with a secret. "I doubt we're the only ones who think that we have to fight; I wuas thinking about joining whoever wants to. I'm sure (and Sirius thinks it too) that there must already exist an organization…"

"Dumbledore…" Becca muttered, guessing James' thought and looking at him curiously. The boy nodded.

"Fight? You mean… confronting He-who-must-not-be-named?" Peter asked lowering his voice, his eyes wide.

"We need to do the right thing," said Lily, staring firmly at him, and then glancing at the dark-haired boy before addresing the rest. "I'm with James."

"I'm in." Said Becca

"Me too." Added Bree, who had been really quite until then.

"Us too." Said Eli and Sam at the same time, and Jams chuckled as the rest of them observed them with wide, mocking grins.

"Seriously, blokes: you need to stop doing that stuff if you expect us to stop mocking you." Brianna commented with a smile.

"Yeah, it's…creepy. You know, like those evil twins from horror movies who talk in unison and- Oh, never mind." Said the redhead, dismissing their disconcerted expressions with a hand gesture right when a third-year girl entered the library and headed to their table.

"Do you need anything?" Asked Lily sweetly, but the girl didn't look at her, addressing Becca:

"Professor Flitwick has asked me to give you this," She said fast and nervosly, holding out her arm to give her a closed envelope. "He said he supposed it shouldn't wait."

After saying that, she walked away at a quick pace, and everyone looked intrigued at the blonde, whoe concerned expression was obvious: if Flitwick hadn't want to wait until the Moon's owl delivered its mail when she was back at her Common Room, that meant he knew what was inside that envelope, and it was probably important. In any other context, it wouldn't have been alarming, but considering the situation the wizarding world was in, anything out of the ordinary was a motive of concern.

Rebecca's hands shook a little as she opened the envelope and unfolded the parchment, and her expression kept imperturbable as she read, but when she was done, she dropped the envelope and ran away. Eli was the first one to react and take the letter.

"Shit," he said, standing up and giving Sam a quick kiss. "Her aunt has died. Tell Remus, okay?" He added as he left after her at a quick pace.

"Oh, no!" Bree exclaimed as Lily covered her mouth with a hand and Samantha read the letter.

"She worked at the Department of International Magical Cooperation; I'm not sure of what she did, but apparently that's the reason she was killed. They found her with no traces of violence in a room locked from the inside; it's not the first time they do it that way. The Dark Mark was shining over her house."

"This is awful…" said Lily in a whisper after some minutes of silence. Peter and Bree nodded and James bent, rummaging through his rucksack to take out a mirror. It didn't take long for the girls to remember what was that device for.

"Sirius Black." Said the dark-haired boy with a strong voice, and a second later he found himself staring into his friend's grey eyes.

"Hey," Greeted him Sirius, grinning satisfied. "We're done: everything works perfectly. We were abot to go to the library; that's where you are, right?" He smiled again.

"Sirius," said James siriously, and his friend instantly knew there were troubles. "Tell Remus to look for Becca…"

"What happened?"

"It's her aunt…she's been murdered."

…

It was a sad week for the gang; Rebecca was shattered and had gone home to be with her family and assist the funeral, but the rest of them hadn't been allowed to go with her: the security measures were more rigorous every day, and if it was possible, they didn't let the students leave the school unless it was strictly necessary.

Besides, full moon had been a few days ago, adding to Remus' concerns for his girlfriend the tiredness and pain following the transformation. The rest of the marauders were really tired as well, and Eli and the girls couldn't stop thinking about their friend. To all of that, you had to add the stress of the exams that, despite the students' complaints, weren't being suspended.

They weren't the only ones alarmed and exhausted: that was the atmosphere that flooded the castle, and even the teachers seemed to need holidays. McGonagall was more serious than usual, Flitwick didn't carry around his usual joy anymore, Professor Sprout nodded dangerously during her lessons, the nervous tic on Hopkins' eye had apparently gotten worse, and Slughorn had stopped self-praising himself at every chance he had, jumping ridiculously and looking around with paranoia whenever he heard a strange noise.

During one of those days, after one of the routine patrols that had bécame more and more frequent for the prefects. Lily decided to go to the grounds to clear her mind, saying goodbye to Remus and Eli, who went to their respective Common Rooms on the seventh floor.

Nothing particularly stressful ha dhappened that day, but the events and concerns had been accumulating in the redhead's mind, and she felt so overwhelmed by all that was going on that she didn't want to go back to the Common Room: she wanted to be alone to think.

Her feet made no sound at all as she stepped on the soft grass, and what until a few hours ago had been a slight breeze had now turned into a powerful wind that whirled her hair and complicated her movements. With her hands into her pockets and her eyes half-closed, Lily walked aimlessly across the grounds, lost in thought.

Even though certain dark-haired boy with glasses hadn't left her mind in weeks, interrumpting her reflections when she was least expecting it, this time she was able to keep him on the edge, because there were more important issues worrying her.

The issues that were closer to her anguished her, like what had happened to Becca or the danger her family might be in, but she wasn't capable of thinking about them as isolated, individual problems anymore: they were all part of the same thing, of the war that lashed her world, of the war which dimensions were already inconceivable. That war was a threat to everything she loved and to everything she had wished for her life; it was a threat to her mother and sister, to her friends, to all the _muggles _and to the wizarding community as they knew it. It was a threat to her idea, and that of many others, of getting a job and forming a family after leaving the school. It was a threat to all of her values. It was a threat that needed to be defeated.

She didn't quite get how it had been so long until she had realized it was her duty to be part of the resistance. Maybe she had always known it, but had postponed the idea with the useless objective of prolonging the moments of happiness she spent with her friends, but the truth was that she wouldn't have more of those if she didn't do something to stop Lord Voldemort.

For a moment, the gaunt face framed by dirty dark hair of who had once been her friend appeared in her thoughts, but she didn't feel pain for him as she used to, but contempt and sorrow. If someone like him, someone who had been friends with a 'mudblood' was capable of hating them so ferviently, she couldn't even imagine what the rest of them thought…

So much death, so much pain, it was too much, it had to end.

She blinked, surprised, when a cold drop landed on her cheek, followed by another one, and then another. She looked up to the sky, where the grey cloud crowded round over her, suddenly darkening the place. Only then she noticed she was at the Quidditch pitch: she had surrounded the castle without noticing it.

The rain kept falling, but she didn't turn a hair, walking slower towards the center of the pitch, away from the bleachers. The drops were bigger and bigger and they arrived in shorter intervals, and soon the redhead was soaked from head to toes, trying to take her hair out of her eyes to go back to the school.

Suddenly, the rain stopped. No, it hadn't stopped; Lily kept hearing it around her, tapping over her head, but not drenching her anymore. When she finally could take the hair adhered to her face, she opened her eyes and looked up to meet a soaking James suspended on his broomstick a few feet from the floor, holding an umbrella over her.

"James?" She asked with surprise. The boy smiled, messing up his hair.

"Happy to serve you," He said, pompously bowing his head and makign her laugh.

"What are you doing here?"

James considered telling her that he wanted to fly for a while, but it wouldn't have been very convincing.

"I was looking for you. It's raining, in case you hadn't noticed." He said raising an eyebrow. Lily half-closed her eyelids.

"I had noticed," she replied with her hands on her hips, but then smiled. "Did Remus tell you I was here?"

"Uhm, yeah, sure." James answered, looking away. Actually, he hadn't needed Remus to tell him anything, because since the Map worked, James didn't take his eyes off of the little ink dot tagged as Lily Evans'. With the map among his notes, James had seen how that particular dot of ink had left the ones marked as 'Eli Rivers' and 'Remus Lupin' and went down several flights of stairs and went out to the grounds. He had spent a quarter of an hour trying to think of an excuse to go down there, but finally the rain had given it to him.

"Shouldn't that umbrella be at the Transfiguration classroom?" The redhead inquired them, scrutinizing it: that was definitely one of the umbrellas they were supposed to turn into flamingos. He grinned innocently.

"I borrowed it." He said, shrugging, and she burst out laughing.

"Thanks for coming to get me," she said, and her smile made James' heart stop. "But you're soaking wet."

"I'm fine," he replied, but the sneeze took out all the credibility his words could have. Lily raised her eyebrows.

"Come down here, the umbrella is big enough for both of us."

"Why don't you come up here?" The boy asked, descending in the broom until his face was at the same height as Lily's and his feet touched the floor. "We'll get there faster if we go flying."

The terrified expression o the redhead's face was worthy of being seen.

"Definitely not," she said emphatically, shaking her hands and head. "I don't fly."

"You haven't got on a broom since first year? Seriously? I thought your friends were exaggerating when they teased you about it." He said, laughing a bit, and Lily frowned.

"I don't fy." She repeated.

"C'me on, I promise we won't go up more than sixteen feet, and we'll be there in less than a minute," Lily opened her mouth to reply, but she shut at the expression on James' eyes. "I promise. Come on, I'll hold you. Do you trust me?"

They stared at each other for a few seconds and Lily snorted.

"Fine." Sh said moodily, but James beamed. "But if you don't keep the promise…" she left the threat hanging and approached to James, who was still holding the umbrella over their heads.

"Great. Well, come'ere," he said, holding out his left arm and taking her hand. Lily accepted it timidly, standing with her back to James as he had told her and putting a leg over the broomstick. "Relax." He added close to her ear: the girl was as stiff as the broom.

"I can't." She said with terror, grasping the stick with both hands despite they hadn't left the floor yet.

James hesitated for a second, but then put a han don the redhead's waist, bringing her closer to him.

"I'll hold you, okay? I won't let anything happen to you," He said, leaning to her. He could feel the soft scent emanating from her soaking hair, and also the way her thin body relaxed when she rested on him. Great, apart from the rain, he would be needing another cold shower once they were at the Common Room.

Lily felt his warm breath in her ear, taking away her own breath, but in the moment she lay against his chest, feeling his marked muscles tensing at the contact of her back, she felt safer than ever.

"Ready?" He whispered after a moment, and his voice sounded so close that Lily shivered, but nodded.

The boy softly kicked the floor and the broom rose slowly. Lily closed her eyes and her body tensed, but it relaxed again when she noticed they were not going up anymore, but flying in a straight line. She dared to open her eyes and saw they were heading to the castle.

The feeling was really agreeable; the rain had eased off a little and it lashed her face, but as they weren't going at a great speed, she almost didn't feel it, enjoying the wind caressing her features instead. However, she wasn't really focused in it, but in the firm tact of James' hand on her waist, in his breath against her neck and in the warmth of his solid body against hers.

"Not bad, huh?" He murmured against her hair, and Lily laughed softly. They were so, so close… but somehow it wasn't enough.

Soon they stopped in front of the heavy oak doors, and the broomstick slowly lowered until they touched the floor. While James closed the umbrella, the redhead got off the broom, turning around to look at him with her face blushed, though not out of discomfort or embarrassment, but out of desire, even though she couldn't recognize it.

"Not bad at all." She murmured when James raised his eyes and looked at her with the broom and umbrella on one hand. His glasses were dripping a little, but she was still able of seeing through them the boy's intense hazel look, which was fixed to her own green eyes.

They were close, with only stretching her arm a little, she could stroke her cheek, but she didn't, and he didn't either. The tension between them was almost visible, but they did nothing but staring at each other. The redhead would have sworn that his hand had moved more than once, but she could see out of the corner of her eye that his arm was on its place. He took one step closer, and Lily wondered if he would kiss her, but instead, he smiled and opened the doors, taking her hand and pulling her inside.

No, of course he hadn't kissed her. He had promised her to be her friend until she was convinced that he loved her and that she did too, and that basically implied promising that he wouldn't kiss her, not unless she wanted to.

Did she want to? The answer wasn't at all that complicated.

…

Sirius tapped his fingers on the desk, looking to the front but not seeing Flitwick, who gestured standing on the top of his pile of books, explaining a new charm.

James, sitting next to him, glanced at him every once in a while slightly worried: they knew each other so well that they could read the other as if they were themselves the ones experiencing the other's feelings. Peter, tired of staying up late every night to finish his homework, nodded tiredly next to James, but Moony had missed the class because Rebecca had just went back to Hogwarts. In front of them, Bree and the rest made notes diligently, except for Eli who seemed to be as distracted as he was.

But Sirius mind, although it wasn't foccused on how to turn vinegar into wine, it wasn't blank either: it was concentrated on the recruiment of young Death Eaters, which were more and more, so many that it felt as if they popped out of the dirt.

The dark-haired boy had cut any kind of bond he had with his brother, but he couldn't help wondering if he was already part of that sick sect. He had always known he would eventually do it, that it was his greatest aspiration, but it had never been to Sirius more than an idea, a future plan. Now Regulus was fifteen, almost sixteen years old, and the new recruits were so young that Sirius thought his brother could easily be one of them. He was surprised to find out that it affected him. He wasn't sure of what he felt, but maybe he hadn't been able to completely cut those bonds tying him to Regulus yet… time would have to take care of that, because there was nothing he could do.

But he wanted to talk to James about it; he wanted to know if he believed too that Reg already had a filthy tattoo on his left arm. Talking about your brother the future Death Eater was somehow completely different from talking about your brother the Death Eater. It didn't make much sense, but all of that was messing up his feelings and thoughts, and he felt that talking about it, taking it off his chest would help him forget it.

He would also like to discuss it with Bree, but it felt unfair to talk to her about his problems when he wasn't sure about what he wanted with her. Even though they had done all they could not to drift apart, but an unavoidable and invisible lamina had appeared to grow between them, impeding them to completely open up to the other like they had always done. In Sirius' case it was because he didn't know what he wanted, or he didn't want to know. He wanted Brianna, but, did he want to be with her?

In Bree's case, it was harder to decipher for Sirius. To him, the girl was absolutely over him, like she had said she would do, and maybe to do that she had needed the distance… But something in his heart told the boy that it wasn't entirely truth; it told him that maybe she had drifted apart because it hurt her to be only his friend.

Then he decided it: After the Easter Holidays (which were coming), when the girl could relax a little and stop studying for a few days, he would talk to her. He needed to know where they were in their relationship, because he needed the old Bree, the one to whom he could tell everything. And, hopefully, Bree would need old Sirius as well.

…

The Easter Holidays finally came, and Lily wasn't the only one wishing to go back home: very few students (if any) had stayed at the school, while the Hogwarts Express was crowded with people from first to seventh year, all anxious for some days of rest (incredibly, the professors had decided not to give them much homework for Holy Week that year, probably because the stress from the war was already keeping everyone busy enough), but above all, anxious to see their families and make sure they were alright.

The train journey was cheerful and entertaining, almost as if all of them had forgotten about the war and murders, especially in the marauders and the rest's compartment, where everyone made an effort to keep Rebecca's mind from it. They played 'truth or dare' and Exploding Snap; they lauhing telling jokes and anecdotes; they ate sweets until they were full, and soon it was time to get off.

Once at the platform, the friends said goodbye to each other and went looking for their respective parents, except for Lily, who said goodbye and headed to the not-so-solid wall that led to the muggle world.

"Redhead," called her Sirius when he saw her. "Isn't anyone picking you up?"

Lily shook her head "Petunia isn't coming home for Easter and my mother is… she's too tired to come"

"We can give you a ride, if you want," he said, nodding towards his friend, who was greeting his father some steps from there. James' father won't mind at all."

She smiled thankful "Don't worry, I'll take a taxi." Sirius nodded and waved at her. After doing the same, Lily turned around and went through the barrier, but before she could walk away, someone ran after her and grabbed her wrist.

"Lily," It was James, who had ran to catch her. "Are you sure you don't want a ride?"

"Don't worry James, I'll just take a taxi," she answered with a smile. "Thank you anyway." The boy messed up his black hair.

"Thought you already had your Apparition License." He commented, and she seemed to startle.

"You're right!" She laughed a little. "I got the license, I had completely forgotten!" James smiled at the sound of her laughter.

"Well, there you go. Get into a restroom or something and disapparate. I bet you'll scare the hell out of your mother." Suddenly, Lily seemed to panick.

"What if I splinch?" She asked anxiously, but James shook his head, smirking and using the arrogant tone she hadn't heard him use in a long time:

"Please, if Evans the know-it-all can't do it perfectly, what else can the rest of us do?" He joked. Lily stuck her tongue out at him, but laughed.

"Fine, I'll try," and then, in a lower voice: "Destination, determination, deliberation."

James rolled his eyes.

"Well, goodbye, Lily," He pouted. "I'll miss you." She smiled sideways.

"I'll miss you too, James." The boy opened his eyes wide and seemed to be speechless, and she held a guffaw. "When we go back to Hogwarts, maybe I'll let you teach me how to fly without falling off the broom."

The expression on the boy's face was the one of who has receive the gifts of three Christmas: Lily had told him she would miss him and had alluded to that afternoon they had flew to the castle together (which she hadn't mentioned until now), and as if it wasn't enough, she had implied that she had enjoyed it, because she wanted to do it again. It was much better than receiving the gifts of three Christmas!

"See ya, James." She said, winking and turning around. The dark-haired boy watched her head to the bathrooms with such fascination that when Sirius and his father found him minutes later, they looked at each other and burst out laughing, but he didn't seem to hear, the scent of Lily's hair still in his nose.

He wasn't sure he could wait for a weak before seeing her again.

…

"I've already told you I don't have a boyfriend, mum," Lily repeated tiredly, washing the dished in the kitchen. "Neither a lover, nor a friend with benefits, and a husband either."

Mrs Evans pursed her lips, resting an elbow on the table, her cheek on her hand.

"Oh, you're not secretly married, then?" She asked mockingly and her daughter rolled her eyes. "Excuse me if is hard for me to believe that a pretty, sweet, smart girl like you doesn't have a boyfriend."

Lily let go the dishes for a second and looked at her wearily.

"You're my mother, you're supposed to say those things about me," The woman sighed, shaking her heads, her soft, brown waves shaking along. "Shouldn't you be bothering Tuney about that? Vernon will soon propose…"

"And tell me: don't you fancy any of your classmates? Not even a tad?" Her mother kept saying, ignoring her completely. Lily just sighed and went back to the dished. "What about that boy Remus? You're both prefects, right?""

"Remus has a girlfriend; My friend Becca, remember?" The redhead answered flatly.

"Oh, I had forgotten that. Well, what about that boy who invited you over for Christmas?" She blushed, but leant so that her hair would hide her.

"Mum!" She exclaimed, and her mother laughed.

"Fine, fine, alright, I'm sorry," she said, standing up. "I got it. I'm calling Petunia." She added, heading to her room. Lily couldn't help smiling; she only hoped that Petunia didn't know it had been her who had suggested her mother to pester her.

Right then, the doorbell rang and the redhead, surprised, absently raised her eyes: they usually didn't have visits, except for their neightbour across the street, but her mother had already arranged to have tea with her at her house. Lily slightly frowned, shaking her hands a little so that the gloves stopped dripping, while her mother yelled from her room:

"Darling, get the door, please!"

She dried her gloves on her apron while she walked towards the foor and then opened it with disconcert, to see herself face to face with the very same James Potter, who smiled widely on her threshold.

Lily opened her eyes so much that it seemed like they were going to pop out of its orbits, and she banged the door shut on a surprised James. What the hell was he doing at her house? And she looking like that! No, who cared about that? The idea of James at her muggle house was so odd… And, Merlin! She had just closed the door on him!

Her mother's voice came from the room:

"Lily! Did you just closed the door at someone's face?"

James, who could hear her from outside the door, chuckled and then tried to get serious, but it was hard to take the image of Lily in rubber pink gloves and flowery, ruffled apron out of his mind.

The redhead, still inside the house, muttered curses, but then thanked the fact that she had already came off age, taking the wand out of her jeans back pocket and making the gloves and apron dissapear in a second, and then opened the door with a phony smile and a red face.

"James!" She exclaimed as if she hadn't slammed the door closed a momento ago. "Wha are you doing here? I mean, come on in! What are you doing here?" She stumbled with her words and tried to calm down, moving from the door to let him in.

James messed up his hair a bit timidly, entering the house and standing next to the door as she closed it.

"I was passing by and decided to say hi," he said, trying to sound casual, but the disbelieving expression on Lily's face told him that the lie hadn't worked. He smiled and ruffled his hair again. "I thought of coming to see yoy." He said, showing his two rows of white, perfect teeth. Lily laughed, shaking her head and rollig her eyes as she walked to the living room.

"And didn't you think of informing me?" She told him, motioning him to come in.

"I wanted to surprise you," he replied innocently, but then something seemed to worry him and he frowned suddenly. "I'm sorry, shouldn't I've come? Remus warned him that-"

"No, no," she interrumped him, laughing a little. "I'm glad you're here. I'm just surprised."

He beamd, but it quickly turned into a smirk.

"Haven't I given you time to put on the evening gloves to greet me?" She threatened him with her wand, narrowing her eyes.

"I remind you that you still have a week before coming off age, while I can do magic whenever I want."

"Okay, okay," he said, raising his hands, unable to hide his grin. "I won't mention the gloves again. Or the apron."

THe girl sighed, puting her wand back in her jeans' pocket and folding her arms.

"No, you won't mention them again," she said threateningly. "Wait for just a second; gotta rinse the last dish and I'm with you."

James nodded and followed her with his eyes as she went to the kitchen, without bothering to hide the fact that he was observing her. He was used to seeing her in the school clothes, so it was strange to see her in muggle garments. She was wearing a close-fitting black shirt that made her look even paler and tight jeans that suited her great, accentuating her tiny waist and her round bum, where the wand stood out, trapped in the pocket.

"You came on the Knight Bus?" She asked, and he gave some steps towards the kitchen, his hands in his pockets.

"Nope; Sirius gave me a ride." Lily frowned a little.

"Sirius?"

"Yep, Padfoot."

Once she was done, Lily dried her hands on her pants and tied her hair up in a sloppy bun, sighing and ma directing her green look at him, blushing when she noticed he was observing her.

"I've told you thousands of times, James, it makes me nervous that you watch me like that," she let out, looking away and going back to the living room "It makes me uncomfortable."

"Sorry, I can't help it." He replied, but she ignored him.

"Sirius knows how to drive?" she asked with a bit of concern, slightly tilting her head to one side and frowning. James chuckled.

"Not a car. He's gotten himself a motorbike." He grinned, waiting for the redhead's reaction, who was stupefied.

"A motorbike? Are you joking?" she asked, and her friend nodded. "And you've been reckless enough to allow him to ride you here? Tell me you wore your helmets." She scolded him, and James rolled his eyes.

"Yes, mum, we were wearing our helmets. Besides, he drives it well, truth is he has surprised me," he said. "He's been wanting to get one for a while now. You should see it, it's huge; even Hagrid could ride it."

"Well," Lily sighed, leaning against the sofa's back. "When you think 'bout it, you can picture it. He has that look of rebellious sex symbol, I guess the bike goes perfectt with him."

James frowned at the description of his friend, looking at Lily with suspicion.

"You should get him a leather jacket for his next birthday," the redhead commented. "It'll go well with the motorbike."

"Noted," He said, and right then, they heard Mrs Evans' voice coming down the corridor.

"Love? Who was it? Tuney says that- oh!" When she entered the living room, the woman suddenty stopped, surprised to see the dark-haired boy standing next to her daughter. He gave her a dazzling smile and made a gesture with his hand.

"How are you, Mrs Evans?"

The woman looked at her daughter and then at the boy, approaching to them with a beam that made appear little wrinkles around he reyes and mouth.

"Oh! This is a surprise; I didn't know you were expecting someone, dear."

"Me neither," the redhead murmured, but the woman wasn't listening.

"Nice to meet you," she was saying, with a wide smile that gave the girl a bad feeling.

"James," the boy completed for her. "James Potter."

Somehow, Mrs Evans managed to make her smile even wider, looking at Lily when the boy said his name, and then moving her bright blue eyes to him.

"Oh, James, yes, yes. Lily has mentioned you hundreds of times," she said, motioning him to sit down in front of her as she sat too. The boy, who was both surprised and thrilled by what she had told him, sat down and the redhead did the same, throwing her mother a withering look.

"Really?"Asked James, looking at his friend out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, yes. You used to get on her nerves a lot when you were kids, you know?" She smiled when she said it, and the boy mimicked her. "But I believe she likes you now." She added, looking at Lily, who wished she could shut her up with her eyes.

They talked for a brief while, but James, of course, was charming and had marveled Mrs Evans in less than ten minutes. Then the woman checked the clock and stood up suddenly.

"I'm sorry, I should've been at Deedee's ten minutes ago!" She said, heading to the door. " I loved meeting you, James. Hope to see you around again."

The boy smiled and she closed the door. James looked at Lily still smiling.

"Your mother's a lovely lady." He said, and Lily glared at him. "She is! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have came, right? I just wanted to s-"

"I've already told you I'm glad you came, James," she cut him short, smiling a bit and standing up. "What I don't like is my mother's efforts for intruding in my love life." She added absentmindedly, catching the boy's attention, who asked casually:

"Your love life?"

"Oh, yeah, since I got here three days ago, she hasn't stopped asking about my crushes or boyfriends," She said absently, letting her hair lose and then tying it again more neatly. "She's loved you, I don't know how you do it."

"It's a natural thing." He said arrogantly, raising his eyebrows. "I'm irresistable." Lily rolled he reyes and kept saying:

"Merlin, stop bragging. But yeah, she adores you. If it were for her, we would be married already…"

"Already?"The boy inquired grinning, and she gave a start: she hadn't realized it had sounded as if she wanted to imply that they would eventually get married.

"You know what I meant!" She spat, blushed, and he smiled even wider. "Stop laughing!"

"Fine." He said, but the corners of his lips seemed to be sewed under his ears. She sighed frustrated and the boy suggested: "Why don't you show me the house?"

"Sure, why not," Lily answered. "You've already seen the kitchen and the living room," she said, walking across the corridor as he followed her. "There's my mother's room. Come upstairs, I'll show you my room."

He followed her upstairs, glancing at the clsoed door that he assumed must had been Petunia's.

"Here," said the redhead, opening another door. "C'me on in."

The boy entered the room and smiled when he looked around: the place was really tidy, the bed done neatly, the shelves full of books and childhood plushies, the school notes resting on the desh. Lily took the wand out of her pocket and left it there, sitting on a chair and watching James walk around the room.

When she saw him stopping and looking at the photos on the shelves, she reminded how she had done the same thing at James' house, and smiled when she thought of how she had brusquely pulled away when the boy had gotten closer. Their friendship was something different back then, when James hadn't openly told her that he was going to 'try to win her over' yet.

"You have your father's eyes," He commented staring at a picture where a man and a woman smiled with their two daughters. The woman's face was rounder back then, but the boy didn't mention how thin and weak Mrs Evans looked now, which Lily thanked: she had already noticed that her mother's health had been deteriorating since her father's death. The redhead approached and smiled.

"Yeah,"she said, taking the picture and loiking at it with nostalgia, and then put it back on its place. "I do."

"Your father is… was blonde," the boy commented curiously. "Just like your sister. And you're mother is a brunette. Where did that pretty red hair of yours came from?"

She shrugged.

"I don't know, I've never asked, and I didn't meet my grandparent. It must've been some recessive allele wandering around…"

"Some what?" James asked with a funny wrinkle between his eyebrows. Lily laughed and shook her head, sitting on the bed.

"Never mind, muggle genetics, I don't know if they work like that for wizards." The dark-haired boy approached and f lopped next to her. "So, where did Sirius take all the money for the motorbike from? I thought he had ran."

"His uncle Alphard gave him loads of gold when he found out he had ran away," he answered, smiling. "Aparently Padfoot isn't the only repudiated Black."

"Good to know."

"He has even been able to get an apartment with the money! I forgot to mention it; I just came from there, in London." He exclaimed excitedly, happy for his friend.

"That's great!" Said the girl, smiling. "I'm happy for him. I'd like to visit."

"He hasn't moved yet, he'll do it in the summer, we can go see him then"

"I'd liek that." She said, smiling timidly.

James beamed; the whole situation was so unbeliavable; him, at Lily's place, making plans with her for the summer.

"Great," He said, puting his arm around the redhead's shoulders and leting herhair lose. "It's a date, then," He addd with deep, seductive voice. Lily rolled her eyes and stoop up, folding her arms and staring at him with an eyebrow raised. "I'm kidding!" He exclaimed, raising his palms and both eyebrows. She laughed.

"I know. Would you like taking a walk around?" James smiled as an answer.

…

Bree read with concentration, sprawled on the living room's sofa enjoying the silence: her parents were out and wouldn't come back until later. Immerse in the interesting novel, the little Gryffindor tried to forget the tragedies of the wizarding world and her own and more insignificant personal problems without much success, almost thanking the sharp hooting that repeatedly sounded outside, distracting her from the pages.

The brunette slowly stood up, carefully leaving the book on the sofa and heading to the door slightly frowning. She hesitated for a second before opening, but then she told herself that a Death Eater wouldn't honk the horn if he intended to enter and murder her, so she opened anyway.

She would have expected a Death Eater before what she found outside.

A huge motorbike had parked on her pavement and whoever was driving it was waving at her with glove-clad hand and a helmet on his head. When he saw she didn't recognize him, the driver let go the handle and took out the helmet, uncovering his dark, shiny hair and his big smile and grey eyes.

"Sirius!" Bree exclaimed with surprise, approaching with a bit of mistrust.

"Bree! All right?" He screamed over the sound of the exhaust pipe, waving his hand again.

"What's that thing? And why the hell is it so noisy?" The girl yelled once she was near him. Sirius turned off the engine without taking the key from the ignition, beaming at his friend as if he was five years old and it was his birthday.

"Ain't it great?" He exclaimed, making a hand gesture to cover the whole vehicle and looking at her triumphantly, waiting for her reaction. "I got it yesterday. I came to pick you up for a ride."

"A motorbike?" Bree asked, looking at it with he reyes wide open. "And you want me to hop on that gigantic thing? Are you insane?" The dark-haired boy laughed,getting off the motorbike and leaning on it.

"C'me on, Nana, I'm an excellent driver," He said, giving her James' helmet, which she took with mistrust. "Besides, don't you tell me it isn't sexy." He added seductively displaying his white smile. Bree chuckled.

"Well, I do admit it's quite sexy. It goes great with you." She said, approaching and stroking the seat with her fingers. "You're barmy, did you know that?"

"Of course, but I'm also really fit, so I'm allowed," he replied, sitting on the motorbike again and making a gesture with his head right before putting the helmet on. "Are you coming or not?"

His voice went out muffled and Bree rolled her eyes before sitting behind him.

"And I must be barmy too." She murmured, puting the helmet on and screamed when the motorbike started and left.

It didn't take long to them to arrive at Londong, and Brianna found herself enjoying the ride, although maybe the fact she was holding to his chest with her own chest on his back influenced it.

"Where are we?" The girl asked once they had stopped, taking off their helmets and getting off the motorbike. He smiled, winking and taking her hand.

"I've got something to show you."

She followed him upstairs without making questions, but as soon as the apartment's door opened, she knew why he was so happy and anxious.

"I've gotten an apartment!" He exclaimed, letting her in. Bree laughed at his happiness and gave him a tight hug, burying her face in his chest as Sirius buried his into her curls. The hug lasted longer than usual: neither of them wanted to pull away, but eventually they both had to.

Bree hadn't realized how much she had missed him until he had appeared like that, so out of the blue, riding a gigantic motorbike and inviting her to his apartment. She realized how happy it had made her that he had gone to pick her up, and how happy it made her spending time with him. It was worth the sacrifice, she thought. It was worth suffering as her heart was smashed only to be with him.

Sirius, however, had been aware of how much he missed his friend, unable to wait for a week to see her again and telling her what he felt. In one of his fits, he had decided to visit her, confiding it only to James, and now he was glad he had done it: the mere fact of watching her made him happier than ever.

"Come," he said, taking her hand and dragging her around the place. "I haven't moved yet, I'll do it in the summer, that's why it is so empty. But you'll see how it looks when I bring my stuff!"

He was genuinely happy, and Bree couldn't but laugh about him, nodding as he told her where would he put what. They finally sat at the window seat, which was already Bree's favorite place in the whole place.

"I'm so, so glad for you, Sirius." She said it so honestly that the boy felt like he melted, and then Bree smiled widely.

When he saw that sweet smile, that smile that appeared so easily, lightinh up her face and making her blue eyes and thick eyelashes glow, Sirius couldn't help it: he leant, taking her face with one hand, and kissed her. He felt her lashes stroking his cheek when she closed her eyes, but only a moment later, Bree pushed him away, standing up and moving away, walking backwards.

The boy, disconcerted, stood up, taking a step towards her.

"Sirius, what is it that you want?" Brianna spat, her eyes flooded with sudden tears. "I don't get you, Sirius! When I knew I felt something for you, I tried to erase those feelings so that they wouln't ruin our friendship. I knew I had no chance with you, but I also knew I value you too much to make something that ruined it," She said, the lump in her throat huting her and dying the words with sadness. Sirius made as if to approaching, but she began yelling. "But then you go and kiss me! You kiss me! And as ifthat wasn't enough; you do it knowing how I feel about you! But did you intend something with doing that? No, of course not!"

Bree yelled, letting out once and for all everything she hadn't tod him, and every word felt like a slap to Sirius, but he knew he deserved it.

"I don't know what you intended that Christmass, ori f you felt something or not, but it was awful for me! And then like the fool I am, I decide to forgive you, and when I think that somewhere in the future I might get over you (And that without losing your friendship, which only makes it all even harder), you kiss me again! Can't you tell how much you hurt me? Can't you tell how I feel about you?" Her last words were barely louder than a whisper, and her tears ran across her cheeks out of control. "_I _love you, Sirius! I _love _you! Stop playing with my feelings!" She exclaimed, giving a step towards him as she said it.

The boy's grey eyes, fixed on Brianna's dark and round orbs, expressed determination when he approached to her, taking three firm steps and holding her face with his hands, making disappear the distance between them in less than half a second, kissing her fiercely, passionately, hungrily. Bree hit his chest with her minuscule fists, but Sirius didn't let go, and only when the girl relaxed, he pulled away. She was still crying, but her blue eyes observed him questioningly.

"I love you too, Bree. There's nothing I can say to fix the way I behaved, how I hurt you. But I don't wanna be a coward anymore. I love you, Brianna, I'm in love with you."

The girl stifled a sob, clinging to his shirt's lapel and pulling downwards, towards her, getting him closer to her lips. In that kiss, she vented it all: the sadness, the anger, the helplessness she had felt, but also the desire, the love she felt for him. Sirius' hands went across her back and waist, trying to caress ever inch of her tiny body, stopping on the back of her neck and drawing her closer to him, as if that was possible. Bree's fists were still grasping the shirt's collar, but one of them quickly let go, letting her finger stroke the boy's neck and jaw. They felt one; that was what they had always needed.

After a time that felt eternal, they pulled away, but not too much: their bodies were still glued to one another, their breaths were one, Sirius forehead reste don Brianna's.

"Do you really love me?" Bree whispered some minutes later, fearful that breaking the silence would end what seemed like an illusion, but felt so real at the same time. Sirius smiled, opening his eyes and looking into hers.

"I really do," he said, stroking her cheek and placing a curl behind her ear, though it quickly left its place. "I've loved you for a long time, but I was too much of an idiot to realize 'bout it."

Bree laughed softly, closing her eyes and biting her bottom lip, then opening them again and saying:

"Well, sometimes you're a bit of an idiot." Sirius laughter went out his chest as a deep bark, and Bree kissed him softly before adding: "But I love you."

He leant again, kissing Brianna the way he had always dreamt, squeezing her against his body to never let her go. She was his. Brianna was his.

…

James and Lily walked for a long while, talking and laughing, stopping to observe some muggle objects the boy found particularly curious. When they started getting hungry, they sat at a cafe to have a cup of coffee and a couple of huge pieces of cake, taking about everything but the war. They had such a great time that Lily found herself wondering why she hadn't agreed to any of his dates. "_Because he used to be a bullying, arrogant toerag"_, said a little voice in her head, and Lily smiled to herself.

"Y'know, Evans, this is what I'd call a date," he commented mockingly after a while, as if he had read her thoughts. Lily rolled her eyes and replied:

"No, _Potter_; this is two friends hanging out. Don't ruin it, okay?" James smiled.

"Fine."

When they left the cafe with their stomachs full, chatting animatedly, they walked by a playground Lily and her sister used to play in when they were younger, and she observed it nostalgically.

"I used to play here when…" She started sating, but her words trailed off when she recognized the boy wandering by the bushed, not too far from there. Her eyes opened widely, looking alternatively at James and the other boy, begging they hadn't seen each other. The gawky boy was too far to decipher his expression, but when she looked at James (who had followed Lily's gaze when she had stopped talking) she knew he had seen him, and rushed to take his hand and pull it.

"Snape!? Was that Snape!? What the hell is he doing here? Is he stalking you or something?" James repeated, flustered an angry, struggling to go back while Lily pulled his arm.

"James, stop it!" The redhead screamed, and the boy quitted struggling to get free, staring into he reyes, anger overflowing his own. The girl let him go and looked at him with concern "Let's go home."

She took his hand, leading him quietly through the empty street. They reached the Evans' house's doorstep and sat there in silence for a long while.

"He lives nearby," the girl confessed, staring at James, who seemed more relaxed now. "That's how we met."

The boy looked at her, slightly curious.

"You know Snape before Hogwarts?" His voice unveiled hostility when he named the Slytherin, but he said it calmly, and his eyes had goe back to its usual sweetness.

"Uhum," she answered, nodding and pressing her lips a litte. She stared at the street and kept saying: "I knew about Hogwarts, about what I was, before the letter, before I turned eleven, because he told me. He was my best friend, James."

The dark-haired boy nodded quietly, digesting the new information. She looked at him again, observing his slight frown and his crooked mouth.

"I know Snape used to be your best friend," he sighed then, raising his eyes at her. "I just didn't know you had known him for so long."

"I know it's hard for you to understand, Jame-"

"Of course it's damn hard to understand it!" He exclaimed, suddenly exploding "Snape's a wicked bloke! He's a bloody Death Eater! The problem isn't with you, Lily, it's just hard to understand that _you¸ _of all people have been friends with that tosser." As he spoke, he gesticulated with his hands, trying not to yell, making an effort to control whatever had burst inside his chest.

"Why, because I'm a muggleborn?" The redhead inquired calmly. "It had never mattered, not at first. He told me; he told me that the fact that my parents weren't magical wouldn't make a difference, he lied to protect me. I know that doesn't justify what he did after it, but he had an awful like, and he was a good friend to me."

"Lily, he's member of an organization which _murders _muggles, muggleborns and their sympathizers." The boy replied with a trace of exasperation.

"I know that, James! I know that's who Severus is now!" Lily bursted, struggling with her tears "Why do you think we stopped being friends? You think it was easy for me, watching him become _that, _unable to do anything? D'you think it was easy to understand that my best friend had turned into a potential killer? That he hated everyone who was like me, and therefore, me? It wasn't easy, James" She yelled, and she couldn't hold the tears anymore. He put an arm around her shoulders and got her closer to him, and she allowed him to do it.

"I'm sorry. It's hard for me to get it," he whispered against her hair, letting her cry on his shoulder. "But I'll try. It's just that Snape represents everything that I loathe; he loved Dark Arts, he is or wants to be a Death Eater… I'll try to understand it, for you, okay?" She nodded, sobbing for a few minutes before pulling away and drying her tears.

"And it's hard for me to understand why you hate him _so _much, but I will try to get it too," he said, smiling faintly. "But, why did it matter so much to you that he showed up at the park?" James remained silent for a moment before answering.

"I overreacted," he admitted, staring at his feet. "It just gets to me, seeing him so close to you, because I care too much about you. I couldn't stand it if something happened to you." His voice was a whisper, and Lily looked at him with shining eyes. The boy looked at her in the eye, the brown spots around the pupil darker than ever.

"Lily… Have you ever loved Snape? Like more than friends." James asked. He would have wanted not tos ay it, but it was stronger than him. Lily hesitated for a second, not about the answer, but about if she should answer or not.

"No. He's always been my friend, nothing more." She said firmly.

"Could you have loved him, if he had made different choices?" The intensity of his look bewildered the redhead.

"I don't know. It doesn't matter anymore." _Now I love you, _she wanted to say, but didn't.

James nodded, softly caressing her cheek withou taking his eyes off of her. Lily fixed her eyes on his lips and he noticed, but when she didn't made any movement as to approach to him, the boy stood up and held his hound out at her to help her do the same.

Lily's heart had raced while she was sitting next to James, so close to him, but it seemed to sink when the boy moved away. The redhead took his hand and stood up, smiling a little.

"I'm so glad you came, James. I had a blast with you." She said, and he beamed as if he had forgotten the incident with the Slytherin.

"I did too," he said, looking down to glance at the girl's watch. "But I should be leaving. My parents are expecting me for dinner." Lily smiled and nodded.

"Are you calling Sirius to come pick you up?" James smiled enigmatically.

"I'm taking the Knight Bus." The expression on his face made her suspicious, and Lily narrowed her eyes with mistrust.

"Tell me." She commanded, and James burst out laughing.

"At the end of the day, Padfoot's right, you like bossing people around, huh?" He said, raising his eyebrows. She folded her arms and the boy sighed, smiling again. "I'll leave Sirius alone for now."

He leant and said close to her ear, as if the street wasn't deserted and someone could hear: "He's visiting Bree." He pulled away and winked at the open-mouthed redhead, running to the road and raising his wand, yelling as he got on the purple bus:

"See ya at Hogwarts, Lily!"

…

**Answers to reviews:**

**Knut**: Yay, and this chapter has even more Jilly! And I guess this chapter also answered to your question: No, Breerius wasn't too far away! I'm happy to know you think they belong together :3 Thank you very much for your lovely review! I hope you liked this one too.

**Weasley02**: Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the story and last chapter :) Hope I didn't disappoint you with this one! And thank you very much for commenting.

**Shalalalalalala**: Oh, I see! Well, 'hola', then! Funny that even though Spanish is your first language you prefer to read the story in English! I get it, though, I prefer that too. And yup, I liked your review in Spanish! I'm sooooo glad you like it so much! I won't stop writing until it's done! Thank you for your review!

**Potterwatch**: Awww, so happy that line made you smile! I added it in the last minute, just thought it was something James would say :3. And yay, so glad you liked it so much! It was one of my favorites to write, and the Christmas one was too! It's so cute that you identify yourself with James! And I say, go for it! Follow his example! Lily gave him a chance, after all; you can't know if you don't give it a shot! Don't listen to me, though, I'm a hopeless romantic with no love life of her own, plus I don't even trust my own advices xD. Don't apologize, I love your rant :P So if you ever pluck up the courage and 'pull a James', let me know! And again, really glad you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you very, very much for your review!


	40. Chapter 40: Musicians and 'knights'

**_First of all, I AM SO, SO SORRY! Seriously, sorry, sorry, sorry it took me so long to update. And I'm also sorry to tell you that I can't really promise that it won't happen again. I can promise I'll try not to make you wait even longer next time, but I've started college again and you know that, even though I hate leaving you without your weekly chapter, I have to put school first. The chapter's long, but I am not too pleased with it… I justhope at least its length makes up for the long wait. I was completely blocked each time I sat to write it, so don't hate me too much if it's a total mess; it's written in pieces and at the end I couldn't put them all together too well, but if I don't upload this, who knows when the writer's block will end and I'll manage to write a coherent chapter. I hope next one's better than this. _**

**_Ugh, I just re-read it before uploading and each time I am more and more sorry I wrote it._**

**_Anyway, here I go:_**

…

Even if she had wondered about it, Lily would have never imagined that her sixth year would turno ut the way it had. Not only because she couldn't have predicted the situation the wizarding world would be in, or how much that would change her ideas and outlook, but also because she would have never thought she would be looking forward to coming back to Hogwarts from the holidays to see James Potter. As she walked across King's Cross, the redhead recalled the last few years of her life, thinking about her new friends, her old friends, and the new memories she had of them. She remembered the little things, and she noticed how much she valued them, especially now that future was so uncertain. Now that the danger was constant. Now that they didn't know what could happen to them.

After going through the barrier of platform 9 ¾, she casted her eyes over the station and soon she saw a boy with dark, messy hair hoping onto the train. Almost as if he had felt her presence, despite she was still too far away, the boy looked up and his eyes met Lily's. James smiled and waved, and Lily smiled back, walking towards him and dragging the trunk after her, Arya loudly screeching as she moved forward. James wouldn't stop staring at her as she walked, and she didn't look away either.

No, nothing was like she would have expected, but she was glad it wasn't.

"Hello," Greeted him Lily when she reached the train as James went out to help her with her trunk.

"Hey," He said with a wide smile, kissing her cheek once they were both on the train. "Where's your ruffled apron?"

Luckily, Remus and Peter appeared behind their friend right in the moment the redhead was trying to stick her wand up James' nose, who tried to avoid her, cackling.

"Good to see you, Lily," The lycanthrope greeted once he had snatched the wand from her, giving her a hug.

"Same, Remus. I've missed you! You too, Wormy." For some reason, the nickname that had had the most success among the girls had been Wormtail, and maybe then Padfoot.

"What 'bout me?" Exclaimed a singsong voice behind Remus. Lily greeted the stunning blonde with another big hug, and only when it seemed safe to do it, the boy gave the wand back to the redhead.

They chatted for some minuted about trivialties; holidays and Quidditch matches, until they were interrupted by Sam and Elli, who had arrive in quite a good mood, and after saying hit o the gang, they headed to the compartment they usually shared.

When they stopped in front of it, they found Sirius and Bree already inside. They weren't kissing, but somehow, Lily felt that they had interrupted a moment which was even more intimate than a kiss. They were holding hands, chatting, but the expression on their eyes and lips was so sweet, so nice, that she was about to turn around and suggest to look for another compartment.

However, Sam, who was complaining about how behind she was with her studies, had opened the door, and Sirius and Bree had looked up, staring at the group.

They hadn't said anything to their friends about what had happened during the holidays (except for James, who would have guessed it anyway), not because they were trying to hide it, but because thing had happened so naturally that they didn't think of announcing it; it would have felt weird to do so.

James and Lily looked at each other, and the redhead's satisfied smirk made theboy chuckle, then raise his eyebrows, remembering (like her) the conversation they had had about those two the last time they had been together. Eli, Rebecca and Remus, who had no idea about it (the lycanthrope knew Sirius was planning to see her, but nothing more) caught it on straightaway, and entered the compartment smiling, willing to congratulate the couple and bombard them with questions. Sam, however, kept ranting and raving about who knows what, standing in the middle of the place, trying to put the trunks in their place, and Peter was just as lost as always. Everyone looked at the dark-haired girl in disbelief, who kept talking and talking, stopping only for a second to thank Eli whom, struggling not to laughsin embargo, was helping her with her with her luggage. The girl glanced at Sirius and Bree and absentmindedly continued her monologue, but then she looked back at them and little by little, her voice trailed off and her eyes widened, fixed on them. Bree gigged and Sirius looked at Sam smugly, leaning to give Brianna a soft kiss on the lips, and the looking back at the Gryffindor with an expression that clearly said 'You get it now?'

At least Peter did get it, and smiled widely as he begun congratulating them, but Sam's scream didn't let them hear him.

"WHAT?" She yelled as if they had just announced her that Gryffindor had lost the Quidditch Cup. "BLACK? YOU AND BLACK?"

Sam kept ranting against the 'brainless, womanizing monstrosity', ignoring everyone's laughter. Once she ran out of insults, she gave a hint of a crooked smile.

"I'm happy for you." She said calmly, provoking a new wave of laughter. Bree smiled and Sam flopped next to Sirius.

"Make her happy, will you?" She whispered to him, and the boy nodded with such a wide smile that it would have dazzled anyone.

"Have you heard of Hopkins' nervous breakdown?" Remus asked then, and everybody started talking at once.

Despite the war, despite everything, they were happy. They were together, all of them, and they were happy. Those were their 'golden days', maybe the best moments of their lives, but they couldn't know that for sure. Maybe, thought Lily, the future had better things awaiting for them …

…

"Would you stop smiling that much? It's creepy." Sirius murmured holding the laughter, ignoring the dirty look McGonagall threw at him for whispering while she was explaining.

"I gotta say I agree." Remus commented, sitting at James' other side, looking at his friend with a one-sided smile.

James ignored them; he was so happy it was physically imposible to stop smiling, and not because it was his birthday, which was always a reason and excuse to celebrate, and no t even for the broom's compass Lily had given him, but because, since they had came back from their holidays, it hadn't been him the one having to look for her company and find excuses to talk to her; she did it too now.

Precisely a few minutes ago, right before entering the class, when she had given him his gift, she had reminded him he had to teach her how to fly. Other times, she approached and sat next to him at the Common Room, even when their friends weren't there, and they talked for hours, and she had even came to see him before last match to wish him luck.

Everything was so strange; him and Lily friends and, if he was Reading the sings correctly, heading to be something more than that; Sirius, the very same Sirius in love; Remus had apparently gotten over his qualms of not dating anyone because of his lycanthropy and Peter was doing amazingly well in his exams. And, as if it wasn't enough, the Marauders' pranks had reduced to a minimum. Well, maybe they hadn't, but they had became way more discrete.

Anyone in the castle surprised anymore when thy saw the popular Gryffindor quartet hanging around with that gang of peculiar members, and even some teachers seemed to be glad their students were happy; Flitwick winked at them every time he saw Rebecca and Remus passing by, or he stopped to chat with Eli and Sam about their future plans. McGonagall had even joked about the 'reason' why Sirius paid more attention in Transfiguration lessons now.

Everything was fine, everything was perfect, as if being happy together was their destiny.

Thus, life at Hogwarts was more active than ever; with the studying, the trainings and exploring the castle with the Marauder's Map, James and the rest had very litte time to worry about other things, although the war was permanently in their minds.

It was especially hard to forget it when, day by day, students left the school to shelter in their homes. Or when they saw the Slytherin students meeting sinister characters in their visits to Hogsmeade, which had eventually been cancelled. It was hard to forget when, each time they opened the newspaper, they read about a new death.

James thought quickly went from his naïve happiness to the reality they were living. They had talked about fighting, but they hadn't done anything about it yet. He felt ashamed; he had been so busy worrying about himself and whatever Lily did or said that he had forgotten what really mattered.

"… that it is dangerous to effect without th- Yes, Mr Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked when she noticed the boy had raised his hand.

"Professor, I was wondering… If you want to fight Voldemort," he stopped for a second at the gasps of some of his classmates. "Where or who should we turn to? I mean if there's a front that-"

The woman seemed surprised at the question and the sudden change of subject, and Sirius, who had been staring at the roof with boredom, straightened up on his chair like some other students.

"Clearly this subject has no importance to you, Potter, since your musings seem to be more interesting to you that what I'm trying to teach." She said sharply.

"But…" The woman sighed and casted he reyes over the students; apparently, after that interruption she would not be able to continue the lesson normally.

"I understand you concern," She said seriously, and for a moment James thought he saw tiredness in he reyes. "But from where you are now, there's nothing you can do. Many of you haven't even come of age, and you still have another year at the school. The only thing you can do is be careful and wait for the Auror-"

"Are the Aurors all we've got?" The boy interrupted her, and the woman gave a start. "Isn't there… some other organization…"

McGonagall stared at him, wondering if he knew something or was just conjecturing. James looked back at her and understood that he was right about Dumbledore and his plans.

"I don't know what you heard, Potter, but no. There's no other organization." She replied emphatically. "Now, I would appreciate it if you let me continue with my lesson."

Even though Professor McGonagall kept talking, no one was paying attention anymore, and when the bell rang, the whispers rose even louder than usual.

"So you still have that in mind, huh?" Said a voice close to the marauder's year, and he turned around with surprise. Lily gave him a smile.

"Yeah. We've waited for too long," he said, messing up his hair. "What 'bout you?"

"Of course." She replied, and it was James' turn to smile. "Heading to the Common Room?" She asked as if she was wishing he was, and the boy hated Quidditch for a second.

"I've got training," he replied, grimacing.

"On your birthday?"

"Uh-huh" Lily raised her eyebrows and smiled sideways.

"Aren't you the captain?"

"Yeah, but I'm a responsible captain." Lily laughed, and her laughter infected the boy, who laughed with her. "You can come to watch us, if you want…"

"No, the redhead has stuff to do with me," Sirius interrupted him, appearing next to him and putting an arm over the girl's shoulders. "You're already taking Nana and Perks, we need a female opinion on the decoration. See ya. Byyyye, Jamie. Have fun. We'll be waiting for you later."

After the training, Eli and Becca dropped by to say, regretting they hadn't allowed them to stay at the Great Hall to celebrate, as they couldn't assist to the Common Room party. He said goodbye, promising to save them butterbeer (smuggled from Hogsmeade) and some piece of chocolate cake.

When he went through the portrait whole, he found the whole Gryffindor tower's inhabitants crowded at the Common Room, including his team mates, who had arrived before him. He shook his head when he saw the huge banners hanging from the ceiling in which he could read phrases praising James' and the marauders' magnificence. Help with the decoration. Yeah, right, like that was Lily's idea.

He casted his eyes over the place, waving at Sirius, Remus and Peter, but automatically heading towards the red head he saw on the sofa.

"Hey," he greeted, sitting between Lily and Sam.

"Hello," they said in unison, making room for him.

"I'm gonna look for Bree, " Samantha said immediately, finishing her beer. "Have you seen her?"

"She's with Sirius and the rest" James answered, and she nodded.

"Happy birthday, pillock." She said before going away, leaving him with Lily.

"How was training today? Sam was complaining 'bout it a minute ago." The girl commented.

"Complaining? I let them leave early!" He replied angrily, and Lily cackled.

"You know Sam. She complains about everything. Besides, she wasn't complaining 'bot you, she was complaining 'cause she thinks you'll be having a hard time next match."

"_Please_, it'll be a piece of cake." He said, and Lily rolled her eyes at his arrogance.

"You are _that _sure?"

"Completely."

"Wil you win for me?" She asked with a small smile. The boy gave a start, but then he beamed.

"Of course."

It was clear that, after such a promise, Gryffindor would be winning once again the Quidditch cup.

…

April went by quickly, and the month of May was practically non-existent, that is how immerse the students were in the study and homework. Soon, the exams arrived, and after them, the time to go home.

The train journey was loud and fun; the best possible way of ending a school year which had been full of surprises; both happy and distressing, buta ll in all, a good year, at least considering that the world could be going to hell.

When they arrived at London, they didn't want tos ay goodbye, but their families were waiting, so they contented themselves with a few hugs and promises of writing to each other. Bree's mother (who had recently found out that her daughter was dating someone) wouldn't leave until the boy promised he would go to have dinner at their place sometime, while Rebecca's mother dragged her out of there as quickly as possible, leaving Remus quite saddened. Sam and Eli's families left together, and the lycanthrope and hisparents left the station chatting with Peter's family.

When the Potters were ready to leave (including Sirius, who would be moving to his apartment in a few weeks), James realized he had left his broom's compass (which he now carried everywhere, fact that Sirius found particularly ridiculous) and hurried into the train to get it back. It was there, resting on the seat, and the boy grabbed it as if he was scared it would disappear.

He felt someone tapping his back and, almost instictively, he pressed his wand before turning around. When, after doing it, he met those two large, green eyes that always managed to marvel him, James smiled widely and suddenly, Lily forgot what it was that she had came back to tell him.

It wasn't his dreamy body, neither his attractive face, not even his hypnotizing hazel eyes. It was his smile. It was his smile that persuaded her. That wide, sincere smile that crossed his face with amazing naturalness every time he saw her. That smile that made her remember every gesture, every joke, every word, every moment they had spent together. That smile which was already familiar, the one that had gotten her to trust him. That unique smile, that smile which seemed to be only for her, only for Lily.

The smile she had found herself missing. The smile that had made her notice that she was in love

She didn't hesitate, but then, when once alone she would think about that moment, she wouldn't remember deciding to do it either. She stood on her toe tips and, with her eyes closed and both hands on his chest, she kissed him softly. Their lips touched for only a brief moment, but it was enought for both of them to feel something bubbling in their chests.

When she pulled away, Lily looked into his eyes with a tiny smile adorning her lips. James was so surprised he just stood there, gaping at her with an odd expression in his eyes that made the redhead's smile wider. The boy moved his lips, but not a sound came out of it, and the girl giggled.

"Don't let it go to your head," she said, trying to remain serious. James kept staring, not knowing what so say. "See you soon."

And she left, leaving him even groggier than last time she had left him at King's Cross, months ago.

…

"Mum! Have you seen my green bikini?" Lily yelled from her room, running around, checking her drawers and throwing the clothes into her trunk without even folding it, something she rarely did.

"No!" Said her mother's voice. The redhead approached to the stairs and leant out, looking down, where the woman was standing looking at the stairs, drying her hands with a dishcloth. "Have you checked all of your drawers?"

Lily nodded. "It's not there"

"Well, take the black one then," Mrs Evans shrugged her shoulders and Lily wrinkled her nose.

"It makes me look too pale." She commented, but went back to her room, rummaged through one of the drawers and threw the black swimsuit on top of the rest of her clothes, into the trunk without even looking at it.

She hadn't seen her friends in the whole summer because the security measures that were being taken in the wizarding world where extreme, and everyone was so scared that no one dared to violate the curfew or the Ministry's recommendations (Of course the marauders didn't care much about it, and neither did Becca, but their parents had insisted and they had decided to listen). When if was clear that none of it was doing much to avoid the waves of murders, the measures begun to loosen and the authorities begun working on other ways of keeping the community safe, although they hadn't stopped handing out leaflets with recommendations.

The situation was terrible, but something told them that it was just he beginning, that the real chaos hadn't started yet.

Despite all of that, and maybe also because of it, Lily, Brianna and Becca had decided to take a weekend to go to a muggle beach in an attempt to escape, at least for a couple of days, from the stress of the war. They only had a few weeks before going back to Hogwarts, but school just didn't feel as safe as it used to, now that they didn't know who was or wanted to be a Death Eater and who wasn't. A weekend away was what they needed to calm down.

After loudly closing the car's trunk in which she had put her stuff, she jumped into the front seat, put her shades on and turne don the engine, heading to Bree's house. Once there, she hokned twice and a minute later, her friend came jogging out of the house, dragging her trunk, her Brown curls jumping untidily on her head and the skirt of her sheer lilac dress dancing over her legs. Lily smiled and made a gesture with her head towards the back of the car, and Brianna left her baggage with the redhead's before sitting next to her on the front seat.

"Hi!" She greeted cheerfully, shifting on her seat and turning the radio on as Lily started the car. "It's good to see you."

"You too," Said the redhead, smiling and turning the volumen up when her favorite song started playing. "How are things at your place"

"Sorta hysterical," she answered, grimacing. "But I guess we all are in times like these." Lily nodded.

"Except my mum; I'm not stupid enough to tell her what's going on in the wizarding world. She's worried about the muggles' murders, though, even if she believes theres nothing magical about them."

"I'm worried 'bout Sirius," said the brunette then, turning to look at her friend, who glanced at her and then looked back to the road. "It's almost as if he was taking it as something personal; I understand you want to fight, but to Sirius …"

"It _is_ personal to him," the redhead interrupted her. "I get that you're worried, but d'you really think you can do something 'bout it?"

"No."

"Everyone plans to fight after Hogwarts; Sirius, Remus, James, even Peter. So do I. And Becca."

"And Eli, and Sam, and everyone I care about. I know that. It just feels too close now."

Lily stopped the car in front of the imposing house of the Moons, and before she could honk, Rebecca came out of the house clad in a light dress, a couple of sandals, showy sunshades and a blue kerchief on her head, swinging her hips in an involuntary and natural act as she walked towards the car. She briskly opened the door and dropped in, banging the door closed.

"_Here comes the suuuuun!_" She sang, leaving her trunk on the seat next to her and sticking her head between her two friends's. "Whassup, sexies? Here's Becca to put a little spice to life." Lily stepped on the gas shaking her head and laughing with bree, who rummaged through the glove box until she found a cassette, as Rebecca kept singing (instructed in muggle music by Lily, just like the rest of them): "_And I saaaay, it's aaalriiiight!_"

Bree put the cassette on and George Harrison's voice started singing along the blonde, and soon, the other two joined them:

"_Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter, little darling, it feels like years since it's been here_."

But no one sang louder than Becca, who loved summer:

"_Here comes the sun! Here comes the sun, and I say, it's aaaalright!_"

As she always managed to do, Rebecca dissipated the sad, dark atmosphere that invaded the car after Lily and Bree's conversation, and cheered the trip with songs and anecdotes. After a few hours, they arrived at the tiny little town where they had rented an apartment for the weekend. The town and beach were muggle, but in the last few years, a magical community had settled nearby, and there was a very well-known bar that Rebecca wanted to visit.

That was what they were talking about when, as they climbed the last flight of stairs (Brianna dreaded the lift), they found two people sitting on the floor by the door of the flat they had rented. Becca dropped her trunk, which loudly hit the floor, and jumped to them squealing cheerfully.

"Becca! The neighbours!" Bree yelled from downstair, although she still hadn't seen the reason the blonde was making so much racket. Lily's voice came from behind Bree:

"Don't worry; all the tenants only live here for the summer, so they are probably at the beach." He got no answer, but when she heard many voices, she curiously looked up, still panting tiredly when she arrived at the seventh floor, but before she could complain to her friend for making them take the stairs, she saw Sam and Eli chatting with the rest with a trunk next to them.

"You came!" Lily exclaimed, hugging them with surprise; the happy couple had already made plans to spend the weekend together.

"We were afraid of what could happen if we left you alone," said Eli, ignoring Becca, who stuck her tongue out at him.

"Very funny." Lily spat, rolling her eyes, still huffing.

"Lils, you really need to do some sport. Your physical condition is pathetic." Sam commented with an innocent smile. Lily threw the keys at her but, as the great chaser she was, she caught them on the fly, shaking them to her face with a smirk.

"Just open the door, will you?" The redhead said.

The place was tiny, but they already knew that when they rented it; after all, it was the best thing they could get at a reasonable price. It was a studio flat with a sofa, a table, an ancient TV, and there was a mattress leant against one of the walls. It also had a kitchenette. Small, but not bad at all.

They left their luggage where they could and entered in turns to the bathroom to put on their swimsuits, except for Eli, who was wearing it already.

"Lily? Everything okay in there?" Becca asked after the redhead had already spent about twenty minutes in the bathroom.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because you seem to be _making _the swimsuit yourself." Sam replied, approaching to the door. "Are you coming out or not?"

"It's only… I've just remembered why I didn't wear the black bikini anymore." Her voice sounded slightly embarrased, and Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, don't tell me you've made us wait for so long just because you don't like how you look in that bloody bikini. Open. Now."

"Can you at least give me my shorts?"

"I can't do it if you don't open the door, smart arse." Finally, Lily opened the door, but only a little, and her arm reached out for the shorts, but the rest of them looked at each other with similar smiles and didn't give her the garment. She got tired of waiting and opened the door moodily.

"Would you give me my clothes?"

"But, Lily, what were you talking about? It looks amazing on you!"Brianna exclaimed.

"It's tiny." She replied, trying to cover herself with the long, red hair. Well, she was right, the bikini was indeed little, but it suited her great.

"Don't be so prudish," Said Rebecca, making a hand gesture and rummaging thorugh the redhead's trunk looking for the shorts "You look great." Lily looked doubtfully at her friends and asked:

"Really?" The boy pretended to think about it, staring at her with a frown, and then nodded.

"Eli approves." He said, making her laugh and getting a push from Sam. "But you're the apple of my eye, baby doll." He added, exaggeratedly batting his eyelashes. The girl grimaced.

"Don't you ever, _ever _call me baby doll again."

They finally went down to the beach and settled near the sea, taking their clothes off and leaving them aside. Most of the people there were pretty old, so it would have been hard that a group of four girls, each one pretty in their way, didn't call the attention of the few young men who were on holiday there; Sam, with her long, dark mane of hair and her tall, thin, but slender body; Bree, small but proportionate; Lily, not easily overlooked with her red hair, green eyes and shapely legs; and well, if Rebecca was a striking, curvy blonde in her school uniform, you can imagine how she looked when she walked around in her blue bikini.

"I'm glad I came with you." Eli said, placing his han don Sam's waist and pulling her closer to him when someone yelled something at her.

"Wow, Eli, I didn't know that jealous side of yours," Bree laughed, spreading suntan cream on her legs.

"Everyone has their jealous side," he said, shrugging. "They have boyfriends!" He yelled at the two blonde boys who whistled when they passed by. The girls burst out laughing, and the Ravenclaw scowled at them.

"Sirius and Remus will know about this," He said, threatening Becca and Bree with his finger. "You should be thankful they're no here, or those two would be already covered with iching powder"

"Relax, _sweetie pie_." Sam said mockingly, pulling her boyfriend's arm so that he would lie down next to her on the sand. "And yeah, I promise, the word sweetiepie won't come out of my lips again." Eli laughed.

"Good to know." He said, laying on his back next to Sam, who was on her stomach. "Oh, and I'm also telling James." He added, but the redhead ignored him, paying attention to the blonde, who had stood up and was walking away.

"Where are you going?" She asked, intrigued.

"I'll be right back, I'm gonna see if they sell juices or something, I'm so thirsty…"

"If I didn't know she's with Remus, I would have sworn she's gone out on the pull." Eli commented, absently stroking Sam's hair.

Soon, the blonde was back.

"No way." Said Eli, suddenly sitting up and then bursting out laughing. Sam sat up and looked in the same direction as her boyfriend, groaning frustrated

By then, Bree had already gotten up and ran there, jumping a little when the hot sand burnt her feet. Lily, who was facing to the other side, turned around, taking her shades off and raising her eyebrows a lot.

The four Marauders, accompanied by Rebecca, were walking towards them wearing only their swimsuits. Merlin.

"Look what I found," The blonde said casually as Bree jumped at Sirius (who lifted her from the floor and made her twirl in the best romantic film style) and Eli stood up to greet the boys.

"We missed you too much." Said Sirius mockingly, but it was clear that there was some honesty in that.

Sam stood up too, though reluctantly, and the redhead did the same thing without thinking. When she did, James' eyes fixed on her as if they were trying to record in his memory every inch of her body. Lily was suddenly aware of how small her bikini was, and she felt how her whole body went red. She would have dug a whole and throw herself inside, but that would probably attracted even more attention.

She knew James didn't do it on purpose, but the way he looked at her made her uncomfortable, and the rest of them didn't do much to make it easier for them, as they were too busy laughing at the expressions on both of their faces.

Once they had all said hi and the Marauders sat around them, everything went normally like ay afternoon at Hogwarts, except that James was particularly clumsy and inhibited, even more than Lily, if that was possible. The others enjoyed the situation, making everything they could to make them feel even more uneasy.

"Sam, could you put suntan lotion on my back?" Lily requested. An evil smile crossed the girl's face, dissapearing as soon as the redhead turned to her and threw her the lotion, being replaced by an innocent expression.

"Sorry Lils, Eli and I were about to go swimming," She said, throwing it at Sirius. "Bree can do it."

"In fact, we were leaving too," The dark-haired boy said, holding the laughter, standing up and taking Bree's arm, who was teaching Peter a muggle cards game. As he said so, Becca and Remus stood up at the same time. "Here, blondie," Said the boy, giving her the cream, and then addresing the other boy: "Are you coming with us, Pete?"

"Uhm, I'm not that good at swimming," he replied with a little bit of fear in his glassy eyes. Bree smiled.

"Don't worry," she told him, helping him stand up. Sam and her pulled him from his arms, followed by Sirius and Eli. Lily turned to Becca, who was holding the suntan cream.

"We're going for a walk," she said, not even trying to hide her mischievous smile. "See you later. Here you go, James." And she threw him the lotion, and then turned around and left with the lycanthrope.

When they were far enough, they both burst out laughing.

"I knew it would be a good idea that you came," Rebecca commented naughtily, making the marauder laugh. "Now I get to spend time with you, and maybe we'll even get Lily and James together once and for all."

Remus, smiling, took her hand and toyed with her fingers as they walked away from peope towards some tall sand dunes.

"They'll probably end up together even if we don't intercede."

"Yeah, it may sound corny, but those two belong together. Like you and I." Remus raised his eyes (which were fixed on their interlaced fingers) and glued them to her flirtatious brown eyes. By looking at her, by only looking at her, he felt so many things. And he was sure she felt them too, because there was something vulnerable about her when he was around. Just like it happened with Sam, who appeared to be so tough, but when she was with Eli, her eyes softened; Becca, who was so sassy and spontaneous calmed a little in presence of the lycanthrope, as if a negligible, almost unexistant trace of shyness emerged out of all her madness.

"What?" She asked, curious about his look.

"Nothing. That I love you." She smiled, and Remus leant and kissed her, letting her hand goand pulling her closing to him.

"Me too, Moony," She said, moving away a little and pulling his arm until they both fell on the sand. Remus sat and the blonde placed her head on his legs, closing her eyes with a pleased sigh as the boy caressed her forehead, hair and face with his fingertips.

Rebecca was _so _happy. She felt guilty when she thought about it; knowing that the world was like it was, but she couldn't help it. He made her happy, and so did she. They loved each other and they were together.

"I've been thinking, we only have one more year left at Hogwarts, and then we'll both probably end up in London, right?" The boy looked at her cautiously and his hand froze on her forehead. "Whether we're fighting or looking for a job, I mean, at least to start… And I was thinking, if everything remains the same between us, what would you say 'bout getting an apartment together? I mean, not like an almost-married-couple like Sam and Eli probably will, but like roommates. It'll be cheaper and we can spend more time together, and if this works…" Only then she felt something was wrong, and when she noticed the boy wasn't stroking her hair anymore, she stopped talking and opened her eyes, looking for his, who looked away.

"Remus? I didn't mean to rush things, forget it, it was a stupid idea. I jus-"

"It isn't it." The boy said then, swallowing hard. His lips were dry and he was still trying not to look at his girlfriend. Rebecca suddenly sat with a horrible feeling emerging in her chest.

"What is it, then?" She asked curtly. She knew it, she knew what he was going to tell her.

She had known it all along.

Only then Remus dared to look at her, the guilt and pain visible in his honey eyes. Rebecca didn't want to cry, she didn't; and she wanted to hear what he had to say, but at the same time she wanted to shut him up, she wanted not to listen.

"Becca… I'm not good enough for you."

"BULLSHIT!" Rebecca spat, and the few peopel around them turned around to look at them. Remus tried to calm her down.

"Bec-"

"I can't believe this, Remus, I just can't!" She cut across him, turning around and heading to the sand dunes. He followed her and grabbed her wrist.

"Rebecca, listen to me! I am not good for you! I'm dangerous and have no future, but the fact that my life is gonna be crap doesn't mine yours has to be too."

"Will you ever understand it is MY choice!? I know what you are! And I love you!" There was no one else close enough to hear them, and Rebecca let loose her sadness, which had transformed into rage.

"I love you too! And you're important to me! I want to be with you! I'm just asking you not to make future plans… Becca, wait!"

The girl hadn't bothered in keeping listening to his explanation, running towards the sand dunes.

"BECCA!" She stopped and turned around, the anger sparking in her eyes, but he reached her and grabbed her wrist again to keep her from trying to run away.

"What, you wanna wait until the year is over to break up with me? Do you realize how selfish that is?" That seemed to surprise the lycanthrope, who let her go as if he had had an electric shock.

"Selfish!? I'm just worrying about you!"

Rebecca let out a bitter, almost unhinged laugh, and Remus ended up getting just as mad as her:

"YOU THINK THIS IS EASY FOR ME?" He screamed.

"YOU'RE UNBELIAVABLE! DO YOU ENJOY IT, PLAYING WITH PEOPLE'S FEELINGS?"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? REBECCA, I LOVE YOU."

"THEN WHY DO YOU INSIST ON SHATTERING MY BLOODY HEART?"

"YOU DON'T GET IT!" It

"NO, IT'S YOU WHO DON'T!"

And suddenly, she dissaparated. The boy looked around, but there was no one around who could have been observing them; the dunes were hiding them from any lonely eyes which could have been spying on them, but however, he didn't try to follow her.

Remus had been trying to postpone that moment as much as possible; the moment Rebecca would want to talk about their future, because he knew they didn't have one. Not because he didn't love her, but because, precisely, he loved her more than anything in the world. She deserved to be happy. Why couldn't she understand that he was doing it for her?

…

Lily would have sworn that she had heard him bursting out laughing when they were already far away, and she stared at them half closing her eyes.

Then James, who had articulated five words since he had arrived (and that was saying too much), looked at her questioningly, holding the suntan cream as if it was an explosive.

"D'you want-?" He cleared his throat; his voice had came out oddly hoarse. "D'you want me to…?"

He left the sentence hanging, and Lily bit her lip. The boy had never been uncomfortable around her, and the redhead could say the same about her, but the surprise and the fact that they were both wearing much less clothes than they usually did made everything so strange.

"Uhm, sure." She said, trying to sound casual. James stood up and sat behind Lily, who pulled her silky, red hair out of her back.

The boy spread the cream on his hands and stared at the perfect, white back, without daring to touch it. He finally did, softly spreading the lotion as if he could break the girl if he pressed too much. He tried to think about anything but the fact that he was stroking the redhead's back like that; it was too much for him, even if the only thing he was doing was putting suntan cream on her.

Lily , in turn, tried to concentrate on anything but James' hands on her back. She had to think in anything but that, but it was imposible. Her breath speeded up and her heart started pounding so fast it felt it was about to come out of her chest. When his hands lande don the sides of her back and carefully ran down to her waist, the redhead shuddered.

"Done." James murmured, sitting next to her without looking at her.

"Thanks" She replied without looking at him either.

They remained quiet for a few minutes watching Sam and Bree trying to drag Peter into the sea with them. Finally, Sirius pushed him and made him loose his balance. James laughed, and Lily looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"This whole thing was Becca's idea, right?" She asked, and the boy laughed again, turning to look at her.

"You know her well." Lily looked at him, rolling he reyes and shaking her head.

"Typical Becca." She said

"Can't say I'm sorry," the boy said, who seemed to be recovering only then from the initial surprise of seeing Lily in her swimsuit.

"Me neither," She confessed after thinking about it for a while. "Although ig you're planning to stay with us, I bags the sofa. There isn't much room, you know?"

"I know," Said the boy with a tad of guilt. "We've just been there; we left our stuff in the apartment. Don't worry, though, we didn't bring much."

Once they had broken the ice, everything went back to normal, and it mattered very little whether they were dressing (although, logically, none of them deprived themselves of observing). After a while, James said:

"Sorry I've been kinda…weird." Lily burst out laughing.

"Don't worry. I'm sorry I was too."

Despite none of them mentioned the King's Cross kiss, James couldn't stop thinking about it, because he clearly knew what it had meant.

With that kiss, Lily hadn't meant to tell him that she wanted to date him, like other could have thought. James was aware that with that kiss, Lily had meant to tell him that she would let go. With it, she had showed him that she had finally seen in him what he had promised she would see after that 14th February, that she had seen what James felt for her, and that she was willing to follow her instincts and feelings.

Before he could say anything, they saw Remus coming back alone, dragging his feet with a tormented expression on his face. James jumped on his feet and Lily mimicked him.

"Are you alright? Is Rebecca alright? What's happened?" The boy inquired, striding towards his friend, who shook his hands.

"Nothing, nothing's happened. We've argued. She's dissappareted. I guess she's gone to the apartment."

Judging by his face, it was clear that he didn't want to be asked any questions.

"I'll go get Sam and Bree. Can you take care of all of this? So you give us some time to… talk to her. We were thinking of going to a bar later, wanna come?"

"A muggle bar?" James asked with interest.

"Mágical"

"Oh, right, sure. See you later."

Lily, Bree and Sam hurried to go back to the apartment, but when they opened the door, they found no signs of Rebecca. After waiting for her for a while, they started getting worried and decided to go back to the beach to look for her.

Once downstairs, they met the marauders.

"Where's Becca?" Sirius asked when he saw the blonde was not with them and noticed Brianna's concerned look.

"She isn't there," Answered Lily, who was beginning to get nervous.

"What do you mean?" Asked Remus, who felt terribly guilty.

"She's not there," Lily repeated, and only then they seemed to actually realice that the girl was missing.

"Well, don't panic," James said, trying to organize them. "Let's do this right; first, go t-"

A familiar laughter was heard nearby, interrupting the boy. Everyone looked at each other and headed to the source of the sound.

When they surrounded the building, they found a curvy sillhouette chatting with three men, who appeared to be older than them.

The one closer to the blond and had just placed a hand on her shoulder, laughing at something she had said, had dark, curly hair that fell naturally on his forehead, and a 5 o'clock shadow darkening his handsome face. He was the classiest of the three of them and his blue eyes were really clear and intense, and as dazzling as his smile. Next to him, a taller and thinner boy with muscled arms was drinking a muggle beer, casually leant on a fence. His hair was blonde and shoulder-length, and his eyes were identical to the ones of the man next to him. The shortest one of them, but also the heftiest, was the one that looked surlier, standing seriously at the other side of the dark-haired man.

"Becca?" Bree called, puzzled, approaching her with the rest of the group. Rebecca turned around and, when she saw them, she smiled, motioning them to go there.

"Hey! There you are. I was just about to go look for you. Remember Lance?" She asked, smiling, patting the dark-haired boy's chest and deliberately ignoring Remus, who looked as if he had just swallowed something really bitter.

"Sure," Lily was the first one to talk, smiling and taking the boy's extended hand. "You used to date Becca when you were in seventh, right?"

Bree and Sam seemed to remember him and shook his hand too. James was the first one of the marauders to approach.

"Hi. James Potter."

"Sure; Potter. Gryffindor team's star." He commented, shaking his hand. "Lancelot Knight"

"Oh, yeah, you were Ravenclaw's Head Boy, I remember."

Sirius and Peter said hi too, but Remus stood a few steps away, his arms folded tighrly against his chest, nodding only slightly when he addressed him.

"This is my brother Arthur," he said, pointing at the blonde boy, who smiled and shook the girls' hands. James didn't like at all the way he ogled at Lily, and he made sure to squeeze his hand when it was his turn to shake it. "Maybe you remember him, he was a Gryffindor"

"No, I don't remember you. Nice to meet you." James said curty, though it was clear that he didn't think it was not nice at all.

"Oh, but we've already met. You broke my wrist at the Hallowe'en ball some years ago when you tried to move me aside. No hard feelings." He said, although in his smile it could be seen a little bit of resentment.

"Wait a sec," said Lily, narrowing her eyes. "I do remember you! Merlin, you look like a different person!" Arhur laughed.

"Are you remembering the skinny, bony kid who was always thrown out of the library for humming?"

"The very same!" Lily answered, laughing with him. No, James definitely didn't like that Arthur bloke _at all._

"Arthur and Lancelot Knight?" Remus asked quite scornfully, although if they noticed, they didn't show it.

"Blame our parents."

"See what a coincidence; their band is playing at the bar we were planning to go tonight." Told them Becca, still not looking at the lycanthrope and smiling at Lancelot more than she should.

"Oh, you're a band?" Sirius asked with interest.

"Guinevere's Knights," Arthur answered, smiling at the redhead as if she had been the one asking. "Lance's the guitar player and lead Singer, I'm on the drums and Mordred here plays the bass."

They had almost forgotten the other boy, who had not only not introduced himself, but he didn't seem to have noticed someone else was there.

"You can't be serious about his name. Unless he's your brother too." Said Lily, although the others didn't understand why.

The two boys laughed and the sulky Mordred gave a hint of something that could have been a smile.

"No, no. It's just a nickname, not his real name."

"Oh, I see. Witty."

"Did I miss something?" Asked James, who didn't want to be left out of anything involving Lily and those boys.

"There are a lot of versions of the story, but in all of them, Mordred seduces Guinevere, King Arthur's wife and Lancelot's lover. Guinevere's Knights. Witty." Explained the girl.

"I'd say lame," Remus mumbled, but luckily, no one heard him.

"We were telling Becca you should come tonight. It'll be fun." Lancelot said

"Sure, why not? We were planning on going anyway." Said the redhead, and Lance and the rest said goodbye after making them promise they would see them there.

None of the marauders liked watching the girls running around the apartment getting ready for that night, especially Remus, whom Rebecca kept ignoring as if he didn't exist.

When it was finally time to leave, the lycanthrope followed everyone without complaining but with his best moody expression, while James wouldn't stop proposing other activities trying to change their schedule.

Obviously, he didn't succeed.

The truth was that the little club looked good (Sirius liked it quite a lot), and if it werent for who had invited them, the marauders would have entered with enthusiasm, and not dragging their feet like they did.

The dark place was illuminated with faint, colourful lights, and all the audience cheered the band that performed on the stage. The gang crowded in at one of the tiny tables and after ordering their drinks, Becca, Lily, Bree and Sam approached to the stage to go talk to the boys.

"Sam goes running to say hi to some pricks that look like they came out of a magazine and you don't even blink?" James asked, and Eli shrugged his shoulders..

"I guess I'm not an insecure fellow." He joked, avoiding the beer cap the dark-haired boy threw at him.

"I don't get all the excitement over seeing those blokes," Grumbled the marauder.

"They're musicians. Musicians score." Sirius stated, and Peter looked at him as if he had just said the most interesting and most logical piece of knowledge in the world.

"And you're not worried that Bree's hanging out with those womanizing musicians?" James asked trying to bug him: it really annoyed him that Sirius was so chilled while him and Remus were biting their nails up to its roots.

"Not at all." He replied smiling quite smugly, although he was actually saying that because he knew Bree was just as much in love with him as he was with her.

"So you're not jealous?" Asked the brunette, who had come back without them noticing. Sirius pulled her arm and sat her on his lap.

"Nope." He said, kissing her lisps.

"Mm, fine," Said Brianna, raising her eyebrows at him. "Then you won't mind that this Arthur has asked me out."

Sirius' expression changed for a second, but then the girl started laughing and the boy rolled his eyes.

"Barely believable; the only thing that blonde Knight was interested about was in getting into the redhead's pants." He said, and James slammed the bottle he was holding against the table.

"Padfoot. Not. Helping." Bree tried not to laugh, and Sirius said:

"Sorry, mate."

Shortly after, the rest of them came back, and Remus didn't like at all to notice that Rebecca had already drank a lot and apparently had no intention to stop.

"They've invited us to hang out with them later," Sam commented Eli, though James heard her. "But I think the invitation was mainly for Lily and Becca."

They chatted for a while, struggling to listen each other over the music, though it was clear that not everyone was having fun, and that some, like Rebecca, maybe were having a little bit too much fun.

When the band went back to stage, it started playing a muggle song, just like the girls had requested, and Sam had to pull Rebecca's arm who, having drank a lot, tried to stand up on a chair.

"_Hot town, summer in the city, back of my neck getting dirty and gritty. Been down, isn't it a pity, doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city_" Lancelot sang, and the four girls and Eli begun clapping and whistling: they all knew the song. "_All around, people looking half dead, walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head_"

"That bloody song is so old. Ten years, at least." Grunted Remus, who knew a little bit about muggle music, emitting his first ten words that night. Peter, who was clapping along, stop doing it at the lycanthrope's withering look.

"_But at night it's a different world, go out and find a girl_," When he sang that verse, he turned and winked at Rebecca, who seductively winked back. "_Come-on come-on and dance all night, despite the heat it'll be alright!_"

Remus teeth grinded so loudly that they could almost be heard over the music, and James and Sirius looked at each other when the boy took a sip of his third firewhiskey.

"_And babe, don't you know it's a pity, that the days can't be like the nights in the summer, in the city,"_

"_In the summer, in the city!_" Sang the rest all together, clapping at the band. Probably, most of the audience didn't know the song, but they were whistling anyway.

"_Cool town, evening in the city, dressing so fine and looking so pretty._" Lancelot looked at Rebecca again and didn't take his eyes off of her while he sang "_Cool cat, looking for a kitty, gonna look in every corner of the city. Till I'm wheezing like a bus stop, running up the stairs, gonna meet you on the rooftop_"

It was the first of many things, after which Remus ended up so drunk that his friends didn't know what to do with him (he refused each time they offered him to go back to the apartment). Rebecca didn't seem to notice, and as soon as the band had finished playing, she had said goodbye to the rest, telling them not to wait for her.

"I didn't had'er for a whore," Sirius said, annoyed at Rebecca for what she was doing to his friend. Bree looked at him angrily.

"Sirius!"

"I'm sorry, but it's her fault if she gives that impression!" He replied, equally angry.

"Don't be an arse, Black." Sam grunted, calmly but warning him with her eyes. The dark-haired boy was about to open his mouth to reply, but Eli interrupted him.

"Stop it. It's understandable that Sirius is standing up for his friend," he said, looking at the girls, who stared at him in disbelief. Then he turned to the boy: "But if you ever say something like that 'bout Rebecca again I'll smash your teeth."

The boy fixed his grey eyes on him for a moment.

"Fair enough. I'm sorry." He said. "I shouldn't have said it."

"I think we should better go back," James said wisely, trying to make Remus (who was practically passed out on the table) stand up with Peter's help.

"I just hope Rebecca's home when he get there." The redhead mumbled as they left.

Efectively, Rebecca was lying on her face on the sofa, probably so drunk she had fallen asleep over the first thing she fell on. Remus walked past her dragging his feet without even glancing at her, and, staggering a little, he laid into his sleeping-bag as far from her as possible, facing the wall without saying a word. It didn't take long until they heard his loud snores, or Peter's, who had fallen asleep on the floor in less than a minute.

Lily sighed and placed a cushion under the boy's head, covering him with a thin blanket as Sam and Brianna tried to take Rebecca's shoes off without waking her up. They finally did it, though Bree landed on her bum with the sandal still in her hands.

No one said anything as they brushed their teeth and got ready to sleep; partly not to wake the rest, partly because they were too tired, and partly because anybody wanted to mention Remus and Rebecca's argument.

They got settled the best they could: Eli laid down on a mattress on the floor, next to the sofá, and Sam cuddled with her back against his chest while he wrapped her with his arms, begging that Peter didn't shift too much at night, as his feet were dangerously closet o his head. Bree and Sirius ended up next to Remus, facing each other into the same sleeping-bag, but they didn't sleep so close together as the other two; they just held hands instead.

When Lily, pretty sleepy, came out of the bathroom after brushing her teeth, she didn't turn the light on, narrowing her eyes to make sures he didn't step on anyone. She saw a little space on the carpet between Bree's back (whose rhythmic breathing seemed to indicate she was already asleep) and Eli's, and she headed there without making noise. She managed to avoid the legs and arms sticking out from the blankets and bags, but when she had already reached her place, she stepped on something and slipped, falling next to that something with a gasp.

She heard a groan next to her and, after shifting a little on her place, she realized that what she had taken for a blankets' bulk was actually James, who, dishevelled and without his glasses, grimaced seizing his ankle.

"I'm sorry," Lily whispered with concern, although she smiled when the boy started squinting, trying in vain to focuss her face. "I'm sorry." She repeated in a barely louder whisper.

"Lily?" Apparently, the boy was asleep, and Lily apologized again for waking him up, besides stepping on him. "Don't worry" James whispered, moving a little against Eli's back to make more room for the redhead.

"I didn't see you," she explained. James offered her the blanket he was using, and when Lily said no, he insisted. "We can share it." She ended up saying.

"Good night." She whispered once they had covered with the blanket, and she turned around, facing Bree. She closed her eyes for some minutes, but for some reason she couldn't fall asleep and opened them again, staring at her friend's back for a long while, her mind blank but unable to get to sleep.

She could hear James shifting next to her, and only when he stopped, the redhead turned around. But the boy wasn't sleeping; instead, his eyes were wide open, looking back at her.

"You can't sleep?" He whispered when he noticed Lily's eyes were open. She shook her head and he smiled. "Me neither."

They stared at each other in silence for a while until then James closed his eyes, but when he heard Lily's voice, he opened them again.

"James. I don't fancy Arthur." She didn't know why she had thought of saying that, but when the boy smiled, she was glad she had.

"Really?"

"Really." James beamed again, moving away a red lock that fell on one of her green eyes, and then placed his hand back on the space between the two of them. Lily smiled slightly, thought about it for a momento, and then placed her hand on his.

When he felt it, James looked up (which, without him noticing, had fixed on the girl's lips), but the redhead's eyes were already closed. Her smile, however, was still there. The boy smiled as well, lightly interlacing their fingers, closed his eyes and finally fell asleep.

…

**_(The song sung by Guinevere's Knights is 'Summer in the city', by 'The lovin' spoonful'. I didn't know it but I casually heard it while writing so it ended up being on the chapter)_**

…

Answer to reviews:

**Shalalalalalala**: Hahaha you made me laugh xD Hope you recovered from your 'explosion' haha. I'm really, really glad you like it, thank you very much for reading and for commenting, I appreaciate it so much!

**Potterwatch**: Awww I'm so happy you think so :3 It was nice to write, that Sirius/Bree scene. Glad to know it was worth the wait (unlike uhm, this chapter I've just uploaded). Hahah, I'm loving all those '!', and I'm happy you are excited! I can't tell you how glad I am.

Oh, I agree, it's about time but they're taking it preeetty slow. You'll have a lot of them next chapter, though!

Aw, I know, the war makes me sad too, but I have to write about it :( Why, Rowling, why?

Thank you very much for your lovely review and for reading and for everything! Seriously, I appreciate it a lot.

**Weasley02:** I'm so happy to hear that! Sorry it took me a long-LONG while to upload this chapter. Hope you don't hate me for making you wait! And thank you very much for your comment!

**Wheezy96**: Oh, no, don't apologize, I totally get it and, uhm, I can't really complain since I've made you guys wait for AGES for this chapter. I'm really glad you liked so much those last few chapters, and don't worry about being specific or anything, I'm just really glad you read and review! Also happy to know you liked those two moments :) Thank you so much!


	41. Chapter 41: Elvendork

**_First of all, I'm really sorry for the long, long, long wait. At first it was because college really has me very busy, but then my computer died, not letting me write or anything. And now my internet is having trouble… Again, I'm sorry, I don't know if this chapter is worth the waiting, but I hope you do enjoy it!_**

**_…_**

The voices woke her up; a soft, unintelligible whisper that penetrated her conscience, making way through her dreams. It took her some minutes to realize she wasn't asleep anymore, and as she woke up, the sounds around her became more and more clear, and she could distinguish the voices of Sirius, Sam, Peter and Eli chatting cheerfully a few feet away, though not too loudly, probably to avoid waking everybody up. It took her a few more seconds to remember where they were, but she didn't open her eyes nor she moved; she just laid there observing the back of her eyelids, gathering energies to get up.

Then (when her body was still in the process of deciding if she would get up or not), she felt something warm under her hand. It had been there since the moment she woke up, but she had only been aware of it then. She slightly moved her fingers, almost involuntarily, and her heart skipped a bit when she realized James and her had slept holding hands.

But it felt nice.

She wasn't sure how to describe it, but holding hands with James made her feel strange. A good kind of strange. As if by only holding his hand forever she could be completely happy.

Suddenly, she felt a pressing, almost painful need to see his face, to look at him in the eye. She was tempted to open an eye to spy on him, at least for a second, but she was afraid her friends would be watching, so she contented herself with remaining that way, holding his hand. She wished she could never let go of his hand; she didn't want that moment to be over. And it was then when she realized it didn't have to, if she didn't want it to end. James had told her he loved her. He had told her he would wait, that he wouldn't lose hope until she was completely sure she felt nothing for him; but he would only do it if she opened her heart and let go. Well, she had done that. And she had gotten to know him better, and she liked the James she had met. He made her laugh, he worried about her, he was loyal and brave, and a great friend. And very, very patient. And well, why denying it? He was _really _fit. And Lily loved him, she knew that.

Right then, she felt his fingers moving on hers; first pressing them softly and then softly stroking them, to finally let them go. When he did, she felt unprotected; she didn't want him tol et her go.

However, soon she noticed he was still there. She could hear his soft breathing, and she knew he was observing her. Lily made an effort to remain impassive, breathing rhythmically and pretending to sleep.

The boy had effectively been observing her. He had woken up before her and hadn't been able to stop staring. He had noticed how her eyelids had fluttered slightly when she had woken up, and then he had felt her fingers barely quivering in his. Finally, James had decided he had to get up, and after letting go of her hand, he remained a few more minutes with his hazel eyes glued to her face, waiting for her to open her green eyes; he had an unexplainable urge to see them. It was also unexplainable the bursting happiness he felt, as if everything was going to be just fine, simply because him and her had slept holding hands.

As Lily wouldn't open her eyes, the boy ended up standing up (a bit reticently), heading to the kitchen.

Lily felt the emptiness next to her when the boy got up and she sighed weakly, closing her fingers and taking the hand James had been holding to her face. Then, she reminded herself again that that strange feeling of anguish that had overcame her when the boy had pulled away, didn't have to be there at all, oppressing her chest. When she reminded herself that, the anguish was replaced by an immense joy; so much that she would have wanted to burst out laughing. Instead, she just beamed, and only then she opened her eyes.

From where she was, she could see Sirius, Eli, Sam and Peter already dressed, having breakfast while James was standing next to the table, bare-foot and wearing no T-shirt, his hair even untidier than when he got off his broom. Lily sat up a little, and glancing around her she saw Bree was still sleeping, and so was Remus, with his face practically glued to the wall. Rebecca, however, had probably woken up already, since the sofa was empty. The bathroom's closed door was a hint of where she probably was.

"Eh, Lils," Eli greeted her when he saw her, waving as everyone else turned to her. When he saw her, James automatically ruffled up his hair. Sirius smiled scornfully at her scruffy appearance.

"So, _sauvage_ style is your thing now, redhead?" He inquired, mimicking her rude gesture after she gave him the finger. "Not a morning person, I reckon."

"No one's a morning person if you're around, Black." Sam replied wearily, rolling her eyes. "I don't know if they've told you this, but you're worse than a pain in the arse."

"They tell me that quite often, yes."He answered casually. "But what they tell me the most is how charming and attractive I am."

This time Sam wasn't the only one to roll her eyes.

"And you let people lie to him?" Lily asked as she tied her hair, looking alternatively at Peter and James, who laughed.

"At least I don't look like a troll when I wake up. Nor I have the temper of one." He replied, pointing her fork at her and covering Samantha, Eli and Peter with scrambled eggs.

"But you're just as smart as one, apparently." The dark-haired girl grunted.

"Where's Becca?" Lily asked before Sirius answered to her friend and an endless argument started. James shrugged, but the other dark-haired boy said:

"Probably leaving all of her stomach's content into the toilet."

"Sirius!" Exclaimed everyone at the table, grimacing and pointing exasperately at their breakfasts. Lily couldn't help laughing.

"What? It's not like I started describing the mix of alcohol, gastric juice and food that -"

"Oh, Merlín," Sam interrupted him, leaving her spoon aside. "Brainless, womanizer and also a pig. What could Bree possibly see in you?"

Right then, they heard an animal-like grunt and when they looked at the source of the noise they found an awful-looking Remus, trying to get up, his eyes bloodshot and the rings under them darker and deeper than ever.

"Looks like the Sleeping Beast is already up," Sirius commented with an innocent smile, ignoring the withering look the boy threw him.

"Looks like the Sleeping Beast is gonna tear your arm off if you don't leave him alone." James added, raising his eyebrows. Lily looked at him and quickly looked away when she confirmed he still wasn't wearing his T-shirt.

The lycanthrope kept shifting in his place, though it wasn't clear if he was trying to stand up or to fall asleep again, and he ended up sitting in a strange position, laying against the wall and staring into space with quite a spooky expression.

"And that, mates, is why you shouldn't drink till you pass out if you don't have the stomach to do it." Sirius explained didactically, but all he got as an aswer was another grunt.

"Padfoot, I think you're not supposed to mess with people who have a hangover." Peter commented innocently, making everyone else laugh.

Lily finally stood up and approached the table, and Eli immediately stood up.

"I'm done. I'll tidy my stuff up and then Sam and I are goign to take a watch by the beach. Anyone who wants to join us is invited." He said, pulling the redhead's hair when she sat down.

"I'll be with you in ten minutes. "Sam said, stirring her cereals with her spoon.

"Did you sleep well?" Lily asked, smiling at everyone and receiving as answers from cheerful 'Yeahs' to grunts.

"Nice pyjamas." Said Sirius, staring with an eyebrow raised at her gigantic, holey T-shirt that covered her down to her knees. Lily crossed her eyes and snatched his fork.

"What were you expecting, a tight, silky baby doll? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that only happens in movies, Padfoot." She said mockingly.

"I beg to differ." The boy replied suggestively

"Oh, _please_, spare us from the tales of your adventures and conquests; I don't wanna throw up my breakfast." Sam requested.

"I'm just saying not every girl puts comfort over looking sexy"

"Well, you can be both comfortable and sexy" James added, shrugging and sipping his coffee.

"Oh, yeah?" Sam asked with irony. "You're saying that all of Black's little girl friends, in those tiny babyd-"

"Well, Lily looks both comfortable _and _sexy with that thing she's wearing." The redhead automatically blushed, while Sam and Sirius looked at each other with one eyebrow raised and identical mocking smiles.

"And you, did you sleep tight?" Peter asked when everyone went silent, and the girl blushed even more if possible. She didn't look at James, but she felt his eyes fixed on her, and she would have guessed that an arrogant smirk crossed his face right then.

"Yeah. Very." She answered casually, but when she looked up she met Sirius' suspicious look, to which she responded by raising her eyebrows with fake innocence. The boy didn't seem to believe her, but he got his fork back, without saying a thing, but with his eyes glued to her.

"I'm ready." Sam announced to her boyfriend, standing up and waving her want to wash her dish.

"Can I come?" Peter, who had already finished, asked, though he didn't even try to wash his dish, he just left it on the sink.

"Sure," Eli answered, smiling at the boy. "Anyone else?"

"I'm coming." Said a voice which sounded like it came from beyond the grave.

The bathroom door had just opened, and it came out a blonde in pretty bad shape, though already dressed. When she saw Remus on the other side of the room (he didn't even glance at her), she didn't look at him angrily, but she looked down instead. When she looked up again and her eyes met the redhead's, she realized that Rebecca was ashamed. Whatever it was the reason she had gotten mad at Remus, it was probably still there, but she seem so sorry about the way she had behaved last night she didn't even seem to remember she was angry.

"Okay," Said Eli with his hands in his pockets: he was also slightly mad at Becca; he thought of her as his sister and he hadn't like at all seeing her like that. The girl looked at him first with anger, then saddened and finally amused, and sighed.

"Let's go." Sam said, leading the procession towards the door, followed by Eli, Peter and Becca.

"Hangover doesn't suit you at all!" Sirius yelled at her before the door closed.

"Throw yourself into a pit and die, Black." The blonde replied as she left.

As soon as they were gone, Remus stood up, entered the bathroom and slammed the door shut. The noise seemed to wake Bree up, who shifted on her place, covering her head with a blanket.

"I can't understand how she can sleep so much…" Lily commented, observing her friend, and Sirius beamed lovingly, staring at her too. The redhead giggled; she would have never expected to see that expression on the marauder's face.

"Here," Said James, sitting next to her on the seat Sam had left and placing a plate with _rock cakes_ in front of her. Lily looked first at his bare chest (and maybe her eyes fixed there for too long, because when she looked at his face he was smiling smugly), then at his eyes and finally at the plate. "_Rock cakes_" He informed. Sirius rolled his eyes and Lily laughed.

"Yeah, I can see that," She said, nibbling at one of them. "They're my favorite."

"I know." Lily looked into his eyes and they both smiled. Sirius, with the same suspicious look he had before, stared at them trying to decide what had happened between them.

They chatted normally for a while, and Sirius got more and more exasperated: the two of them treated each other naturally, but he felt there was something fishy there.

"Well, what are we gonna do with those two?" Lily asked then, looking at the bathroom door.

"What d'you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Well, I don't know if spending another day here, like we had planned, is the best idea…"

"She's right, they'll end up killing one another." James added. "Whatever it is that happened between them, I don't think they'll solve it from one day to the next."

"Why don't we go to my place?" Sirius suggested, shrugging. "It's ready for me to move in, and I had told you I'd invite you to check it out."

"Great idea. You sure you don't mind?" The redhead asked.

"Not at all. You can stay for lunch."

When they heard the bathroom door opening, James stood up and announced he was going to get dressed.

"Tell me." Sirius demanded in some sort of whisper as soon as his friend was out of his voice's range. Remus, who was tidying his things, didn't seem to hear.

"Tell you what?" Lily asked innocently, looking up at him with her eyebrows raised. The boy narrowed his eyes.

"Cut the crap, redhead." He said, raising his eyebrows with a half smile that the girl mimicked. "I know James more than I know myself, and he is so happy he could start floating or something. And I may not know you _that _much, but you can't hide what you feel, not with those awfully huge, expressive eyes you have."

"Excuse me?" She interrupted him, pretending to be mad but holding the laughter.

"What? They are. And you wake up all smiley, and you giggle and ogle at Prongs, so spit it out already."

"Don't you think you're a tad paranoid, Padfoot, darling?"

"You know that James' gonna tell me anyway, right? I won't even have to insist. BUT we would start with the right foot if you tell me. Y'know, I'll let you intervene when we decide my godson's name and such." Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Merlin, Sirius, nothing happened," She told him, her smile inedible. "I just… I think I've decided something."

"You're not being very clear," The boy commented, but smiled.

"I think I've decided something." She repeated. "I haven't, uhm, told James yet, but I think he's guessed it."

Sirius let out a guffaw, wrapping a surprised Lily in a hug.

"Maybe I'll stop calling you redhead; call you sister instead." He commented, letting her go and messing up her hair. The girl gestured him to shut up.

"I'm not your sister-in-law."

"Yet," He said, raising his eyebrows and walking backwards towards the living room. "But I'll wait till it's official." And after winking, he jumped on the bulk of blankets in which Brianna was.

Lily smiled when she heard her friend's squeal and saw the boy trying to tickle the elusive, amorphous bulk, but her smile faltered when she looked at Remus, who had just sat in front of her. He looked terrible, not because of his aspect (which was clearly not the best), but because it was clear how sad he was.

Lily watched him for a few minutes as the boy stared with a smile on his face at the couple who laughed some feet from them. When he looked back a ther, he smiled wider.

"It's good to see Sirius like that," He todl Lily as the girl made him a couple of toasts with jam and left them in front of him. "Thank you. I always knew that Sirius needed someone like her. I mean, he has Wormtail, Prongs and I, but still…"

He left the sentence hanging, and the redhead nodded. It was clear how important his friends were to Remus, and it was clear that he would give anything for them, even his life. All the marauders would do that for one another, and Lily was sure all of them were proud of it. They weren't friends, they were brothers, and it was a beautiful relationship.

They remained silent for a while until the girl, staring at him with a slight frown, asked:

"Are you okay, Remus?" The boy shrugged and smiled sadly.

"Not really." He said, staring at his toast.

"Yeah. Stupid question."

"No, no. Thanks for asking," he said, shaking his head and smiling sadly again. "I've always known that's how it was gonna end, I just hoped we could have a little more time."

"What d'you mean? Listen, I know last night Becca-"

"No; that's not what I meant. I mean, yeah, I'm still mad at Rebecca for the way she behaved last night, but we had already argued before"

Lily nodded and let him talk.

"When we talked about our future." The boy sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "I was hoping we could avoid the subject for a while, but I guess it was impossible."

"Why didn't you want to talk 'bout it?" Lily asked softly, encouraging him to continue. Maybe talking about it was good for him. The boy sighed again and looked at her in the eye.

"I know you know I am a lycanthrope." He said, and Lily, slughtly surprised by the sudden statement, nodded. "I have never thanked you for keeping my secret, by the way. Or for not staying away from me despite it."

"There's no need to thank me." She replied softly, smiling to encourage him to go on.

"I can't condemn her to spend the rest of her life with a werewolf." He stated seriously, as if he was stating it to himself as well. The girl looked at him with slight surprise, and then her eyes filled with sadness.

"Remus, don't you think that's up to her to decide?" She asked after a moment. The boy shook his head and smiled a little.

"She has told me the exact same thing, but you don't get it. I can't do that to her. It'll hurt now, as much as it hurts me, but she'll get over me and move on. It's the best for all."

The redhead realized that no matter what she said, she wouldn't convince him.

"Then that's why you argued? Because you don't think you have the right to be happy?" She asked.

The lycanthrope ignored the second part of her question.

"Yes. I've told her what I think and she's gotten really mad. She's called me selfish, and she has told me there's no point in being together if I'm planning to break up with her when the school's over."

Lily looked at him in silence for a few minutes. She knew what happened in the lycanthrope's mind and heart, and it made her miserable to know that even after having the friends he had, he couldn't love himself. She understood what happened to him, and it saddened her to know that her friend, who was worth so much, felt that way. But she also understood Becca's reaction: the girl could row by herself against the tide trying to help him, but there was a point when, having lost the oars, tired of rowing and with the tide just as strong as at the beginning, you couldn't keep trying anymore, because you weren't going anywhere. It wasn't fair to Becca, but Lily could imagine how hard it had been to her, having to give up. It was likely that not everything would end with that fight, but by what the boy had said, the relationship hadn't much room to go anywhere. It was sad to know it; they had been so happy together, at least for a few months.

"Good morning," Bree greeted them, more disheveled than ever, entering the kitchen with Sirius' arm on her shouders. The other two smiled at them and the girl grabbed an apple and bit it, flopping next to Lily.

"Good morning." The redhead and the lycanthrope said in unison.

"So, what're we doing today?" The brunette asked casually, but looking at Lily suggestively: it was obvious she was thinking about Remus and Becca.

"We'll visit Sirius' place." Lily answered, and Remus looked at her lightly surprised.

"Oh, good idea. You'll like it." Said Bree.

They couldn't say much more before James came out of the bathroom, already dressed and with his hai soaking, splashing everyone when she messed it up with his hand.

"You do know it's messy even if you don't do that, right?" Lily asked when she walked past him, heading to the shower.

When she was done, the rest had already came back, and Bree rushed to the shower.

"Why the rush?" Becca asked. Remus still didn't look at her, and apparently, when she came back, all of his sadness and frustration had transformed back into anger.

"We're going to Sirius'." Lily answered, brushing her hair and approaching the group.

"Oh, fine. Anyway, I was just about to tell you; I'm going back home." The blonde commented without looking at anyone in the eye.

"What?" Remus and the redhead said at the same time.

"I… I just have to go back, okay? Say bye to Bree for me."

"I'll give you a lift." Lily stated, standing up to get her car keys.

"No, no, I'll take the bus. I don't even know how're you gonna do to fit in there."

Despite everyone's insistence, Rebecca ended up leaving on the bus, waving at everybody before disappearing through the door. The rest of them made their luggage and after cleaning everything up and leaving the apartment tidy, went to look for the car.

Peter sat on the back sit, next to the window, and Eli made himself comfortable next to him, with Sam on his lap. Sirius managed to fir next to him and Bree squeezed herself against her boyfriend. James and Remus were the last ones to arrive, and one look of the dark-haired boy was enough for the lycanthrope to understand he had to let him sit in the middle. When she sat on the driver's seat, Lily glanced at him and smiled enigmatically.

The trip to London was long, especially because Peter and Eli, no matter how many times they asked them, wouldn't stop singing the whole way there, and to that you had to add that the restless Sirius kept bothering everyone, and neither Bree nor Sam could manage to calm down. James, on the other hand, had tried to start a conversation with Remus, who deviated the subject every time he asked him about Becca, so the dark-haired boy had ended up turning to Lily, overwhelming her with questions about how a car functions.

Everyone was relieved when Sirius announced they were there, and they followed him willingly upstairs. When they entered, the girls (except for Bree) and Eli were surprised to see how well decorated it was.

"What can I say? Great taste is another one of my qualities." Was the boy's answer.

After checking out the whole place, they sat comfortably on the soda and the floor. They talked about this and that for a while, until Bree, who was sitting on the floor, brought up the subject of their futures.

"Only one more year." She commented, torn between nostalgia, concern and hope while Sirius (sitting on the sofa) played with her curls. "One more year and we're out to the real world."

Although it wasn't too obvious, and not many of them noticed, Remus shifted uncomfortably on his seat: talking about the future was what had gotten him into trouble in the first place.

"To the war." Said Sirius, more crudely than anyone, because that was what characterized him: saying things straightforwardly and without trying to soften or hide the truth.

"To the war." James repeated, and a solemn silence invaded the room, interrupted minutes later by peter's weak voice.

"You… you… you think we have a chance to defeat ? You really think so?"

Everyone turned to him and stared at him with surprise. It was right that many times, all of them had had doubts, or had wondered the same thing, but they would have never said it out loud. If they didn't have faith, if they didn't trust in themselves, of course they couldn't win. There was no room for doubts, not in war.

"I'm sorry," Peter said straightaway, slightly frightened. "I'm sorry, I… Never mind."

"We can beat him." Said Lily firmly, placing her hand on the boy's shoulder. "We can defeat him, Wormy. If we unite, we will defeat him. Good will triumph, Peter."

"Good doesn't always triumph." The boy whispered, and the rest didn't argue. Not because they agreed, but because they thought Peter was just saying it out of fear, and not because he truly believed it.

"Wormtail," Remus said then. "If we don't stand up for what we believe in, then no one will. You can't triumph if you don't fight. It's okay to be scared, we all are, but we have to do what's right."

Peter nodded silently, but he didn't look convinced, and Bree tried to cheer up the atmosphere she had create with her innocent reflection, without dramatically changing the subject:

"I'm planning on moving to London. Any of you is planning to do the same thing?" She asked. Eli was about to answer, but Remus interrupted him:

"Padfoot, do you mind if I don't stay for lunch today?" He said suddenly, surprising everyone by the sudden change of subject. "My mother probably wants to see me," he said, trying to explain. "And if I'll come back later, like we had agreed to do, I think it'll be better to stop by my place first." He added; the marauders had planned on staying with Sirius during his first week at the apartment.

"Fine by me, as long as you come back later. You can't miss all the fun." Sirius ended up saying, punching his friend on the shoulder.

"Of course I'll be back." He said, rubbing the punched spot. He started to stand up, but Lily stopped him and stood up herself.

"At least stay while some of us go to buy something to make lunch. Even if you're not staying, you can leave after we come back." She said. Remus shrugged.

"Okay, I guess I can wait."

"Fine," Lily smiled."We'll be back in a while." Sam and Bree stood up and followed her, and Eli went after them.

"You're going too?" James asked.

"I just thought you could use a 'manly' talk. You probably need it." He said, giving Remus a sidelong glance. The lycanthrope asked:

"And the adjective 'manly' doesn't apply to you?" Eli smiled as an answer.

"Spending so many hours, for so many years exposed to the influence of four women has ended up assassinating any Y chromosome that might be in me." He said. "So yeah, it doesn't apply."

The marauders laughed as the boy left after the girls, thankful that he had left them alone to talk.

"We're not talking about this." Remus said as soon as the door closed, and as if they were in synchrony, his three friends rolled their eyes.

"Yeah we are." Said James as the other two nodded.

"You know we'll do it in the end; why not spare us from all the drag of insisting?" Sirius added in a practical tone. The lycanthrope sighed and rolled his eyes.

"_Fine_," He said, torn between irritation and emotion because his friends worried so much for him. "It was just the same as always."

"Oh, bloody Merlin, Moony, we've talked about this hundreds of times. "Sirius exclaimed with frustration. "This disscusion is stupid. Your arguments are stupid. Stop being stupid." Remus looked at him narrowing his eyes. "I'm sorry, mate, but you are being one. A total idiot. A damn, bloody, total idiot. A-"

"Fine, Padfoot, we got it." James interrupted him, between serious and amused. "You know Sirius isn't good with words, but the point is he's right." He said, addressing Remus, who looked at him stubbornly. "You need to understand that you _deserve _to be happy. That you _are _worth, and a lot."

"Look, I appreciate a lot that you worry 'bout me, and I'm infinitely thankfull that you believe that of me," Sayd the honey-eyed boy. "But I've already made up my mind."

It was clear that he had, and no matter how much they insisted, Remus wouldn't see sense. They dropped it, but it wouldn't be the last time they had a talk like that one. Then, James noticed that Peter was particularly quiet and shaky; not that it wasn't usual in him, but he was more absent-minded than usual. He looked at the rest, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Wormtail, are you alright?" James asked, and the boy quickly raised his head.

"What? Yes! Yeah, everything's fine."

"You sure? You look sorta nervous." Said Remus, and Peter forced a smile.

"Everything's fine, really. I was just thinking."

"Well,that's new." Sirius commented, making them laugh. Right then, they heard the door open.

"We're back!" Bree announced, entering with bags in both hands and kissing Sirius on the mouth. Everyone laughed at the corny and stereotyped scene, but they couldn't care less.

"What're you cooking?" James asked, approaching to peek inside the boxes they had left on the counter.

"What are _you _cooking? Sorry, stud, but you're helping."Sam replied, smashing one of the bags against his chest.

"Well, I'm sorry to leave you now, but I think it's the right time." Remus said, making everyone laugh. He said goodbye to everyone with a hug and had to put up with Sirius scene when he hugged his legs and started telling him he would miss him. He finally let him go when the lycanthrope promised again tha t he would be back.

They had fun cooking, although Sirius and Peter did nothing but getting in the way, and Sam found out she had absolutely no talent or patience for cooking. "Lucky thing your boyfriend's such a good cook." Sirius had commented mockingly, laughing at one of Samantha's attempts to season the sauce. "At least you won't starve." He had earn a blow on his fingers with a ladle because of that comment.

Lily and Bree, appart from Eli, were very good cooks too, and James, who had never cooked before, found out he was not bad at it at all.

Lunch was really pleasant; even Peter seemed to forget whatever had him so nervous, and they had a blast. When they were already full and had already washed the dishes, they laid down on the sofa and the carpet.

"Well, I think it's time for me to leave." Said Sam after a while, glancing at the clock. "My mother must be expecting me."

"I should be going too." Said Eli, who couldn't avoid all the jokes that followed his comment, questioning his independence and calling him 'hen-pecked'. "I'm not going _with _Sam." He said. "I should be back by now too, My mother doesn't even know I ended up going to the beach with you bloked; she probably still thinks I spent the weekend alone with Sam." That only triggered more jokes, that only ended when Peter said he should go too.

"What? Weren't you staying?" Asked James, puzzled. Peter nodded nervously.

"But I have some stuff to do before that. I'll beback for dinner."

They said goodbye to them, who also used the floo net to leave. Lily and Bree, who lived a bit far from London and didn't usually have a chance to visit it, decided to walk around the city for a while, but when they went back to the apartment, they only found Sirius there.

"Where's James?"Bree asked, slightly frowning.

"Oh, he had to go. He asked me to say goodbye to you for him."

"Oh." Said Lily, slightly dissapointed; she was hoping James was still there, or at least that he had said goobye. "Well, I should go. Are you coming or staying? She asked, looking at her friend, who looked at Sirius and then at the redhead.

"I'm staying for a while; I'll go back home before dinner."

"Fine," Lily said, hugging her friend. "See ya later." Then she hugged Sirius.

"Thanks, Padfoot. Nice place."

"Thanks, _sister" _He whispered that last word, and if Bree heard it, she pretended she hadn't.

"Bye!" The girl yelled, going down the stairs with the car keys in her hand.

She went out humming absently, and when she looked up after closing the door, she was so startled she jumped a little.

James was laying against the building's door, a half smile lighting up his face.

"Will you go out with me, Evans?" He asked, and Lily smiled: she had heard that question so, so many times. The answered had always been automatic, but it wasn't this time.

"I'd love to." James wasn't surprised, and he was glad he wasn't; nothing between them had happened as he had imagined, but it had been even better and the result of it all was better than he could have expected. His friends and parents said he had changed for Lily, changed in a good way, but he wasn't sure that had been exactly what had happened. He wasn't different, but Lily had made the best part of him emerge. "Where are we going to?"

"What d'you think 'bout starting with a couple of chocolate ice-creams?" He asked, shrugging and messing up his hair with one hand.

"Good idea," said the redhead, reaching out for his hand and smiling when he took hers. "But I'm driving."

"Fine with me, I already checked you're better at driving a car than at riding a broom." He replied, and she scowled at him, letting his hand go and stucking her tongue out at him. James laughed and she gave him a smile.

No, he hadn't changed, he was the same James, but the best possible version of James Potter. Thanks to her.

He followed her to the car and sat next to her, messing with the radio until he found a station he liked.

"Well, where to?" She asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye and smiling before looking back to the front. James shifted on his seat until he was sitting on his side, looking at her.

"I don't know, let's leave London." He said, staring at her. She had the most gorgeous profile he had seen in his entire life, and she looked so beautiful with her red hair loose and her bare shoulders. The curved eyelashes framing her eyes were hypnotizing, even if she wasn't looking at him, and her little mouth looked so exquisite, especially when she smiled, like then.

"Yeah; too noisy and crowded, isn't it?" She answered, briefly turning to him and blushing when she met his eyes, looking at the street again.

"Uhum. Exactly." He said. "Why don't we go to that place we went last time? Y'know, near your place, the ice-cream parlor near the café…"

"Good idea. But the trip is kinda long."

"Let's find something to entertain us, then. Favourite colour?"

"What?" Lily asked, looking at him.

"No, wait, I know that one. Light blue. Favourite food? I know that too…" James kept saying without paying attention to her.

"Oh, you're creepy." Lily said, laughing. The boy pretended to be outraged:

"No, you have told me those things."

"But it's weird that you remember them."

"I remember everything about you." The redhead blushed, looking back to the street, and they remained silent for a moment, until she asked:

"Well, what's _your _favourite colour? Let me guess, red and gold."

"Exactly. Though lately I've really liked green. Emmerald green."

"And your favourite food?"

"Treacle tart"

"Really? Okay, your turn."

James thought about it for a minute: "Hobbies?"

"I don't know, I like potions. And well, reading, of course. What 'bout you? Quidditch, Quidditch, Quidditch?"

"And Quidditch. And pranks. Favourite animal?"

"I don't know, I never thought about it. What's yours?"

"Mmm, I kinda like stags. Place you'd like to visit?"

"Too many! France would be one of the first ones. Favourite place?"

"Gryffindor's Common Room. And the Quidditch pitch. Favourite book?"

"That one's hard! Fine, magical? The first year's Charms textbook, it was the first magic book I ever read. Muggle, I've always really liked The Catcher in the Rye. Music?"

"Mmm I don't know, definitely not Guinevere's Knights." They both laughed. "Something you have never told anyone?" Lily pursed her lips and thought about it, but decided to answer:

"Uhm, I've thought about being a healer many times. Same question."

"I've been jealous of Snape." They went quiet again, until Lily kept the game going:

"A ridiculous anecdote?"

"You know it; when a prank backfired and I ended up hanging from my ankles, covered in troll bogeys," James said, remembering that one time he had tried to avoid Lily from being right in the middle of the welcoming prank for the first years. "And same question, definitely."

"Pff, you've seen me falling from brooms and wandering around the school with my hair turned into a giant ice-cream cone, I think you already know about all of my ridicules…"

"What 'but your first kiss?" Lily remained silent for a while and looked at him out of the corner of her eye before answering.

"Yours." James stared at her, bewildered and surprised. "Y'know, during Christmass." She added when the boy said nothing. He just stared at her with an odd expression and Lily begun getting angry. "What, it bothers you?" She spat rudely.

"No, no! I just wasn't expecting it. I mean, look at you. How come anyone has kissed you yet?" Then he seemed to remember something. "Hey! What 'bout Aidan?" Lily gave a hint of a crooked smile, both amused and annoyed.

"You've managed to avoid it, ruining any chance we had." She answered, sighing when she looked at the boy and saw he was smiling produly. "Oh, Merlin, James, it's not like it is some great deed." She murmured with a giggle.

"Well, but before him? There hasn't been anyone?"

"I think you'd know it if I had dated anyone else, James. You're a stalker."

"What? I?"

"Don't play innocent; if that word applies to someone, it is you."

"Well, I'm sorry." James said finally.

"Why?"

"Because that was your first kiss"

"And why are you sorry about it?"

"I don't know. You ran away after it, you probably didn't like it much." Lily smiled enigmatically, but didn't say anything.

"And what about _your _first kiss? Was it perfect?" James laughed

"Oh, you couldn't be more wrong." And he proceeded to tell her about the failed first date he had with the Ravenclaw Rachel Barker.

Thus, the trip felt a lot shorter, and when they arrived, they got off in the ice-cream parlor that it with two huge chocolate ice-creams. They talked about the trip to the beach and also about if Remus and Rebecca would solve their problems. They also talked about their childhoods (mainly about James a thousand and one mischiefs, and abour Lily's unsuccesfull attempts to be a dancer), and they discussed their future plans, and for the first time, Lily wondered if James would be in them. The boy did too, but of course, that wasn't new for him at all.

They calmly walked around the neighbourhood, chatting as if they had been friends their whole lives. Their hands rubbed each other's a couple of time as they walked, but neither one of them dared to hold the other's; James, because he didn't want to pressure her, and Lily because she was afraid of doing it.

They arrived at the playground Lily played when she was a child, and they sat on two swings,, sightly swinging as they talked.

"Sirius seems to believe he'll name our child," the girl commented casually, and James gave a start and stared at her with his eyebrows really high, but Lily kept talking as if she didn't realice about what she was implying. "Y'know, his godson." The dark-haired boy stiffled a guffaw and commented:

"Oh, yeah, I haven't dared to tell him the truth yet." He said, pretending to be serious. "He's been quite insisting lately about how unisex names are supposed to be in fashion right now. He particularly liked the name Elvendork." Lily horrified.

"No child of mine will be called Elvendork." She stated. Only then her brain seemed to start processing that she had implied James and her would have a kid together, which was pretty clear in her face. "James…" She started saying, standing up and looking at him nervously. The boy stood up too, chuckling and putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Forget it."

"Jaaaames," She insisted, shaking his arm off her.

"Forget it, I know you didn't mean anything by it."

"I just-"

"Hey, seriously. It's nothing. Sirius always gets us to say stuff like that; he plays with our minds," The boy joked, "Don't freak out if he starts calling you sister or something."

The girl smiled "Yeah, he's already threatened me about it."

They walked to the car chatting, and although James insisted, Lily wouldn't let him drive.

"So, even though you don't wanna have children with me…" He commented after a while, when they were about to arrive to the redhead's house.

"Oh, Merlín, please, don't mention this to the rest. It was a lapsus"

"… Do you think we could… go out again at Hogwarts? I mean, see where this is going. I don't mean to pressure you or anything, I just-"

"Sure," She interrupted him. "I'd like that. But let's enjoy today, okay? You never know what might happen tomorrow."

They arrived and got off, standing near the car.

"Really nice first date, if you ask me." The boy commented with his hands in his pockets..

"Technically, this is our second date" She said, raising her index finger.

"No," James replied. "That time you said we were just two friends hanging out." The redhead rolled her eyes.

"Do you have to take everything so literally?"

"Today's our first date." The boy insisted stubbornly. "Today's the first time you said yes."

"I'll still say our first date was the other one" She was just as obstinate as he was. James folded his arms and replied:

"Well, I'll tell Elvendork that _this _has been the first one." They both burst ou laughing, and Lily shook her head. "You're beautiful when you laugh." James said with a soft voice, looking at her in a strange, sweet way. Lily smiled without noticing. "You always are, actually. You always are beautiful."

"I'm not." The girl murmured. James eyes almost popped out of his head.

"What?"He asked with an outraged expression, and the girl looked at him with surprise. "Merlin, Lily, you _are _beautiful. Had you never looked at yourself in a mirror?"

"Thanks." Said the girl, who was usually uncomfortable when flattered. "You don't look that bad either."

"I know." James had absolutely no problem with being flattered.

"Big-head." She accused him, but smiled.

"I know that too." He replied, making her laugh.

Then he leant and kissed her.

They hadn't done it since she had taken the initiative at King's Cross, but it felt so natural, as if they did it every day. As if that kiss had always been meant to happen. Lily's eyelashes brushed his cheeks, and the boy's thumbs stroked the redhead's jaw as she squeezed her body against his. It was an only, soft, long kiss, almost shy, but they felt so many things… When they finally pulled away, they didn't do it completely, only enough as to be able to speak. James rested his forehead on the redhead's, still holding her face in his hands, while hers reste don his chest, which was almost glued to hers.

They were both smiling sweetly, gazing into each other's eyes as if they wanted to stay like that forever. Then, Lily asked:

"Will you tell Elvendork that was our first kiss?" James chuckled, pulling away a little, letting her face go and tucking a red lock behind her ear.

"I don't know; I have to think about it. It's the only time both of us wanted to kiss each other." Lily folded her arms with fake consternation.

"So you didn't want me to kiss you at King's Cross?"

James held her hands and toyed with her fingers without taking his eyes off of hers.

"Of course I did," He replied, raising his eyebrows. "But that doesn't count, you took me by surprise."

"Don't say it like you're accusing me, you've stolen a kiss from me too." Lily answered, pulling his hands to get him closer to her. James leant and kissed her nose, and she laughed.

"Fine; we're even, then." He said, pulling away and raising his palms.

"I'm glad." The redhead replied, and they both begun slowly walking towards the house, stopping at the yard. "Are you sure you don't want me to give you a ride? I really don't mind."

"No, I'll take the bus, it's okay." He answered, messing up his hair. Lily gave a hint of a smile when he did so, although the boy didn't know what had made her smile. Then, the redhead took his hand.

"Anyway, I did want you to kiss me." She said, staring at their interlaced fingers.

"What?" James was slightly disconcerted. Lily looked up and smiled at him.

"That one time. At your place." That surprised the boy.

"Really?" He asked, so genuinely intrigued that Lily chuckled, confessing:

"I spent all Christmas night wishing you did, pillock."

"And it took you so long to let me know!?" The boy exclaimed with a trace of anger that only made her laugh.

"I'm a tad stubborn."

"Yeah, know that one too."

"Oh, shut it, Potter."

And she shut him up with a kiss, tangling her fingers into his messy hair as James pulled her closer by her waist. That kiss was more intense, wilder, and neither one of them really wanted to separate, but they both thought it was better to take one step at a time. Besides, Mrs Evans had never been characterized by being discreet, and she wasn't quick enough to draw the curtains.

They looked at each other for a few minutes, beaming, and even giggling a little. It was understandable: they were happy. It was as if things were finally like they were always supposed to be, like being together was something unavoidable, something that had to happen, and that had happened in the right time.

"Guess I'll see you at Hogwarts," James finally murmured, knowing that they would probably not see each other during the week and a half of holidays they had left. She nodded, biting her lips before saying, staring into his eyes:

"Thank you, James," He seemed confused. Lily confused him, she had been confusing him all afternoon long, not that James was complaining about it. "For being so patient. For waiting till I could trust; in you and in what I feel."

"Thank you for giving me a chance." He said. She nodded and smiled, suddenly shy. "Will you write to me?" He asked. He had to go, but he didn't want to; he didn't want to leave her, but also, he was afraid that if he did, everything that had happened between them would vanish as if it had never happened. Lily stood on her toe tips and kissed his cheek.

"Yes." She said, and beamed. "I'll see you at Hogwarts. And we'll start where we left it." She assured him. James was so happy he felt like laughing, and he said goodbye to her before she thought he was crazy or something.

She watched him leave on the Knight Bus, an indelible smile planted on her face. After some minutes she turned around and sighed, preparing to face the stream of questions that she would receive as soon as she entered the house.

…

*Correct me if I'm wrong, but rock cakes are apparently typical English cookies (Mrs Weasley usually cooks them.)

*Whoever has read the brief prequel written by Jo will understand why the name 'Elvendork'. For those who haven't , what are you waiting fr? It's only one page long, but one page of James and Sirius being the troublemakers they are on a motorbike, that _has _to be read!

*Catcher in the Rye, by J. .

…

**Shalalalalalala**: Thanks again!

**The forgotten Stark**: Love your username, btw. I'm glad you liked the ending, hope you liked this chapter! And as you see, I did as you told me!

**Weasley02**: Aww thanks! I'm glad it was your favorite! Again, sorry it took so long, and I hope you enjoy this one as much as you enjoyed ch. 40!

**Potterwatch2710**: I took AGES to update again, I feel so bad! Sorry! I'm glad you liked it, and I hope you like this one too.


	42. Chapter 42: Romance,break-up, engagement

_I'm fully aware that any apology I write can justify the fact that I haven't updated in over two months. I'm also aware that taking so long was disrespectful to you. And I'm also completely honest when I saw I'm truly sorry, more than you imagine. But it is also true that it's not that I didn't update because I didn't want to, but because I couldn't, and not because of writers' block or anything, but because I didn't have time. Not even a little bit. Not even a few hours to write a crappy chapter. Nothing. I get that it doesn't justify the fact that I made you all (if you're still there) wait, and I know that I'm still a lousy author for doing it, but I want you to know that I didn't do it because I felt like it, but because sometimes my extra-internet life doesn't let me do anything else. Now I had a couple of weeks of holidays to write before next term starts… The truth is that I started writing this on my second free week, because well, for some personal issues I haven't really felt like writing romantic scenes lately, and even thought that's no excuse, I just wanted to make Lily and James' scenes perfect, and I didn't feel like I was capable of doing it right. Finally I sat down and wrote, and it was hard to start again, and well, this is the result. It's not the best chapter at all, and there isn't anything important plot-wise to justify the waiting, but if I started having second thoughts and tried to edit the whole chapter again, I would have ended up not uploading anything. That's also why this chapter is so brief: I'm still a little rusty. If everything goes smoothly, next chapter should be way better, I promise. But I must also warn you that after two or three chapters, it'll probably take me another long time to update again, because this term I'll have even more subjects and responsibilities. Just wanted to let you know._

_Oh! One last thing: at the end of the chapter, you'll find a poorly written Sorting Hat Song. Actually, I took verses (and in one case, a whole stanza) from the three songs we know, and I've put them together and re-ordered them, adding some verses myself. I know it's crappy, and that it wasn't necessary that I added it, but I thought that at least there had to be mentioned one of the hat's songs, after 7 years. Well, here you go_:

…

_SEVENTH YEAR_

Going back to Hogwarts had always felt like going back home, but Lily didn't remember to have ever wished to go back as badly as that year. The sound of the trunk's rollers accompanied the one of her anxious steps, which quickly led her across the station despite it was still early. The slight, inexplicable ghost of a smile flickered across her lips, responding to whatever her mind was thinking as she walked through King's Cross. As she approached the platform 9 ¾, her heart beat faster and faster, and even though she pretended she didn't know the reason, deep inside she knew what was that impatient joy all about.

After going through the magical barrier, she casted her green eyes over the platform, but among the faces of students and relatives – some familiar, and some others not – she couldn't find her friends'.

She glanced at her wrist-watch again: still early. She tried to calm her anxiousness, walking slower towards the train, dragging the trunk beside her; after all, before seeing him she had to fulfill her Prefect duties. No, not Prefect, she remembered: her Head Girl duties. Now her responsibility was bigger and she had to set the example, so Lily didn't give in to the temptation of going round the whole train to find her friends (who probably weren't there yet) and she headed straight to the prefect's car instead. After all, her being in love didn't mean she had to stop being responsible. She was so anxious that her mind didn't even catch the fact that she had just admitted she was in love.

The platform's hubbub diminished a little when she got on the Hogwarts Express, which was almost empty, and it wasn't hard for her to make her way across the aisle. She assumed she would be the first one to arrive; not even new prefects used to be so punctual. Maybe she could leave her trunk there and then check the other compartments, just in case _he _had decided to arrive early. She mentally ticked herself off: she hadn't been able to think in something other than _him _for days. No matter what she did, it didn't take long until she found herself lost in thought, either replaying some moment spent with him, remembering something he had told her, or just dreaming about the dark spots in his hazel eyes.

Lily had always been a romantic, but she had also always considered herself an independant woman, judging those who, in real life, behaved as if they were in a romantic comedy. Not that it was bad to be madly in love, but she just found it ridiculous to be constantly thinking about other person, as if those women depended on their boyfriends to keep on breathing. Yes, it was romantic to see it in a movie, but not in real life. Only now Lily was beginning to understand them. It was not that they lost their independence for being in love, it was not that their life moved around a man because it had no meaning without him, nor that their happiness depended on them; it was just that, keeping that independence and individuality, they chose to be with a person that complemented them, accompanied them, that made them happy. It was not that they _needed _to be with this other person; it was that they _wanted _to. And well, in almost every case, as annoying as it may sound, the first months of being in love consist on behaving, yes, like a hopeless moron.

And there she was, philosophising about love and romanticism, when she arrived at the prefect's wagon. She absently opened the door and gave a start when she saw someone was already in there. When he heard her enter, that 'someone' leaped up, messing up his hair with one hand and showing off a smile so wide it seemed impossible. The redhead was so disconcerted that she didn't know how to react, and she just stood there staring at him with perplexity. The boy's smile weakened a little, and his hand jumped to his hair again with a nervous insecurity very much unlike him.

"James?" The redhead was finally able to utter, still standing a few feet away, her trunk halfway in.

"Hi, Lily," The boy greeted her care freely, though it felt slightly rehearsed. "Uhm, I must admit I was expecting a little bit more excitement from you." He admitted, laughing a little to hide his dissapointment. His hand jumped to his hair again and the redhead smiled without noticing. That seemed to finally wake Lily up, who suddenly beamed brimming over with joy, dropping her luggage – which loudly hit the floor, making Arya screech angrily – and running towards the dark-haired boy.

"James!" She exclaimed right before putting her arms around his neck (as his surrounded her waist), to then plant an enthusiastic and passionate kiss on his lips. The boy laughed against her mouth and she pulled away a little with a smile, without letting him go.

"Well, that's what I was talking 'bout," James commented, kissing her briefly and stroking her waist. "Congratulations, Head Girl."

"Thanks," the redhead said, toying with a lock of hair falling right above his neck. "But what are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you," she hurried to clarify, making him smile. "It's just that I wasn't expecting to see you until later."

James let her go only for a second to point at the shiny badge on his chest, and then he wrapped his arms around her again, as if he feared she would run away if he didn't. "You should congratulate me too." He said.

"You? Not Remus?" She asked, puzzled, and James laughed, shrugging.

"You know Dumbledore," he replied, taking the importance out of it. "I was expecting it to be Remus, too, but he seemed almost relieved when I got the badge"

"Ha, smart move from Dumbledore," Lily said, raising her eyebrows "Now that you're a role model for the younger ones you can't cause that much trouble."

The boy ran his finger across the side of her face, and then tucked a red lock behind her tiny ear.

"Oh, Lily, Lily," he said with exaggerated condescendence, making her roll her eyes. "That only means that I can't be _caught _causing trouble." In spite of herself, the redhead smiled and he leant to kiss that irresistible mouth.

"Have you talked to your friends about this?" James asked when they pulled away a little, as he rhythmically caressed her back with one hand and her waist with the other.

"Mmm?" Lily murmured, closing her eyes with her face buried into James' chest. The boy chuckled and repeated the question. "No," Lily answered with a sleepy voice, looking up and kissing him softly between his ear and his jawline. "I thought it was best to tell them when I saw them; they're gonna make a big deal out of it anyway, but I didn't think it was neccessary for it to happen sooner." James laughed and kissed her hair, saying against it:

"You're probably right"

"What 'bout you?" The redhead asked, looking up again. James raised his eyebrows.

"Me neither." He said briefly, and Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, right." She replied with all the sarcasm she could.

"Maybe, maaaaybe I mentioned it to Sirius." He admitted, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"And to Remus." Lily added as he kissed her nose bridge, then her cheek, then the other one.

"And to Peter." James gave in, kissing her mouth and then her forehead again, making her laugh.

"Tell me that at least you waited until you were home to tell Padfoot." She said, playfully putting her index and middle fingers on his mouth when James tried to kiss her cheek again. He smiled innocently.

"Remember that two-way mirror…?" She laughed, clinging to him to kiss him again.

Lily smiled when James' arms pulled her even closer against his body, and she clung to him even more, stroking the base of his neck as their lips locked, making up for the time lost. They both noticed how their bodies fitted perfectly, and how natural it was to be so close to each other, even when they had only been 'dating' for a few weeks, and even when they hadn't yet talked about their relationship. _This is how things are supposed to _be, James told himself as he kissed Lily's neck before going back to her mouth; that was how he had always known it had to be. _He has been right all _along, Lily thought, audibly sighing before her lips were locked with James' again: _This is how it always should have been_.

A gasp and a sharp noise distracted them and made them pull away, if they were suddenly aware of where they were. When they looked at the floor they found a brunette Prefect who had tripped with the redhead's trunk.

"Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry!" Lily exclaimed, hurrying to approach to the girl, who quickly stood yo before the redhead could reach her, while James picked up the trunk and put it in its place.

"Sorry, I was just leaving," the girl rushed to say, proving that she had seen them kissing. Only then Lily noticed the brunette was Leila Corner, the quick-tempered Gryffindor who, in a fit of jealousy, had left her with a scorched – and poorly cut – mane of hair. For a brief second she glared at her: it had been hard for her to forgive her for doing it, even when she had had to see her pretty face, full mouth and annoyingly turned-up nose during every Prefects' meeting last year. The girl rarely talked to her, and each time she did it she avoided to look at her in the eye, like she was doing then. Lily sighed with resignation: even if she didn't want to admit it and even if it had been a completely reprehensible behavior, she understood why she had done it, and she couldn't keep holding it against her.

"No, no, don't worry," she said softly, smiling honestly at her. "The rest of the prefects must be about to arrive."

The girl looked at her with slight mistrust, but entered the compartment, sitting with her legs together and her lips pressed, staring at some dot in the wall, trying to give the recent couple some 'privacy'.

Effectively, the rest of the prefects soon arrived, and Lily noticed how Remus didn't mention a thing about her and James: if it had been Sirius, he had probably hinted something, but the boy pretended he had no idea of what had happened between them.

Lily thanked the fact that James kept his distance when the rest arrived: she wasn't ready for everyone to know her and James were dating or whatever, thought she couldn't help feeling slightly annoyed. James didn't want people to know they were together? She soon dismissed the stupid idea: if it were for him, he would have already sent a letter even to Dumbledore to announce she had said yes, and she knew it. If he kept his distance was because he didn't want to make her uncomfortable, which was very sweet of him. Lily shook her head a little and laughed: where were those paranoid ideas coming from?

Eli was the last one to arrive, and Lily scolded him with her eyes: as Ravenclaw's Head Boy he had to set the example. The boy just shrugged with a wink and sat next to Remus, letting the rest of them to start the talk for the new prefects.

What Lily didn't notice was how Eli, perceptive as he was, observed with suspicion the small and almost imperceptible things in their behavior that proved that something had happened between James and Lily. The way she touched his arm to attract his attention when she wanted to tell him something, the way he placed his hand on her lower back when he leant to answer, or how they looked at each other when they laughed.

"Look at that," He commented to Remus, though he said to more to himself than to the lycanthrope. "Those two definitely have something going." Remus laughed, but said nothing. Then Eli seemed to remember something.

"You alright?" He whispered as the meeting kept going. The boy looked at him puzzled.

"Yeah, why?" Remus understood before finishing that sentence, nodding and smiling sadly. "I shoul've known you already knew." Eli nodded.

"She hasn't stopped crying ever since." He said it more roughly than he meant to.

"Sorry." Was all the lycanthrope could say, but he said it so earnestly and there was so much pain in his voice that the Ravenclaw's voice softened when he answered:

"I know. She'll be fine; it's just that she isn't as tough as she appears to be. And even though I think you're an idiot, I get that you're doing it 'cause you honestly believe it's best, so I'm not judging you. Don't worry 'bout her, she'll be fine. I'll make sure she is."

"Thank you." He didn't say anything else, but he knew Eli got it. He tried to listed to whatever the Hufflepuff's Head Boy was saying then, but his mind couldn't help but replaying that moment…

***Flashback***

Even with her catlike eyes slightly swollen, the tip of her nose slightly red for days of crying, the full mouth half-open to breath, she looked beautiful. Beautiful and stunning; her sorrow was the sorrow of a movie star. Her long, blonde hair, lightly disheveled, didn't make her look sloppy, but it added the perfect touch to that sad air surrounding her instead. The delicate way her hand took the hair out of her face, perfect but not rehearsed, completed the scene, which could have been dramatic if it wasn't for the fact that Rebecca wasn't crying anymore. She was calm, almost at peace.

By only looking at her, his heart shattered to piece, and for a moment his will broke as well, but he held back before it was too late.

They hadn't talked about the fight, or the recent events: they both knew they had been wrong and they were both sorry and had forgiven each other. In fact, they hadn't talked at all since they had arrived; they had just stared at each other. They both knew, too, that there were no explanations, no apologies, no excuses needed. They were just looking for some kind of closure.

"You understand I love you, do you?" Rebecca asked then, breaking the silence with a soft, serious tone she rarely used. With a lump in his throat, Remus nodded.

"And you understand I would do anything for you?" She asked again, her eyes fixed on the boy's, and he nodded again. His mouth and throat were too dry to utter an answer.

"But you won't change your mind." That wasn't a question, it was a statement. They both knew it; they both knew Remus decision was final. This time he didn't nod, but he looked down until she timidly touched his hand until he looked up at her again.

"You understand why I'm giving up?" She said after a while, and for the first time tears threatened to flood her eyes again. Remus nodded, although he didn't think she was giving up. It was him who had decided to end their relationship. But to Rebecca that was exactly what she was doing: giving up on him, abandoning him when he needed her. There was a longer silence before she whispered again:

"Do you forgive me for giving up on you?" Her voice broke at the end of the sentence, and now it was Remus turn to reach for her hand, though he hesitated in the last minute, but the girl interlaced their fingers before he could remove his hand. "I'm not strong enough to take it." She whispered, struggling with her feelings.

"Becca…" He started, but she shook her head.

"No, Remus, I don't want you to tell me there's no guilt in giving up, or that there's nothing to forgive. I'm just asking you to forgive me, okay?" Remus nodded and forced himself to say:

"Okay."

Then Becca stood up, brushed her clothes and smiled, but not with her eyes. She approached him and caressed his hair and cheek.

"It's not like we won't see each other again. We can still be friends, Moony." Then she held his face with both hands and kissed him softly on the lips. "I just hope you find someone stronger than I am, and even more stubborn than me, who can convince you of how much you're worth. Bye, Remus. I'll be seeing you." And she turned around, walking away from him with that sweet swinging of her hips.

"I love you too." He said in a whisper, loud enough for her to hear. Maybe it would have been better not to say anything, but he needed Rebecca to know. She stopped only for a second – or that was what the lycanthrope thought – and then kept walking without looking back. Maybe she hadn't heard him after all.

But she had, and she had been unable to keep holding the tears.

***End of flashback***

**…**

"Oi, Wormtail!" Sirius called him, opening the comparment's door as soon as he spotted a sandy-haired head passing by the aisle. "Here!" The little glassy eyes searched until they found him, and he headed where his friend was waiting with a relieved smile.

"No one else's here yet?" He asked as Sirius helped him with his luggage.

"Yeah, but I threw them a disillusionment charm, be careful not to sit on them." The dark-haired boy replied rolling his eyes as he closed the door. Peter hesitated for a second but then laughed. "Wow, you got the joke quite quickly. Kudos, Wormy."

"Where's James?" The boy asked, making himself comfortable.

"At the prefect's wagon; he's the Head Boy," he begun explaining.

"Head Boy!?"

"I had forgotten you didn't know." He commented, sitting in front of him and taking his hair out of his eyes. He frowned a little. "We haven't seen you at all this summer, Wormtail, we've missed you mate." He realized how corny it sounded and grimaced. Anyhow, it was true: they had barely seen him during the holidays, even when they were used to spending them together. But excuse after excuse, Peter had declined their invitations to visit them, and he had even not answered to some of theit letters. "Everything alright?" He asked, honestly worried.

"Yeah," Peter answered, shifting uncomfortably on his seat. "I've just been busy…"

Before Sirius could say anythign, the door tugged open and Rebecca and Sam got in, amicably waving at Peter and greeting Sirius with a "Hello, prick" said in unison.

"Glad to see you too." The boy grunted, although he didn't make the usual jokes: he could see that, even when she tried to hide it, Rebecca wasn't at her best. He wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't known what had happened between the blonde and Remus, but to those who knew, it was clear that the mischievous spark in the Ravenclaw's brown eyes was missing.

"I hope Brianna arrives soon." Peter said shyly, and everyone stared, puzzled. "It won't take long for you to get them mad, Padfoot." The boy explained, getting Rebecca to let out a guffaw.

"Good point." Sam recognized, smiling.

"And what will they do to me? Tickle me with their wands? Please, Wormtail, I can handle them."

Rebecca pretended to check the time and looked up at Peter. "You were right. Less than five minutes." She said, taking her wand out, and so did Sam and Sirius.

"I can't even leave you kids alone for a minute?" Everyone turned to the door, where Bree was waiting with her hands on her hips and the expression of a tired mother. Sirius put his wand out and approached to Brianna, putting his hands on her waist and bringing him closer to him to then kiss her nose.

"I'm zorry" He said with a little voice that made Sam roll her eyes and Becca pretend to puke. Bree shook her head and the boy kissed her tenderly, letting her go to help with her trunk.

Bree hugged her friends and Peter and sat next to her boyfriend, who put his arm around her shoulders and begun playing with her curls.

"Sickeningly sweet" Sam stated, and both Sirius and Bree tucked their tongues out at her.

"Not like you can complain," Becca added, smirking at her. "You're just like that when you're with Eli."

"Shut it."

"No; you're _worse_" Said Sirius. When Sam raised her hand in a not-so-decorous gesture, the light coming in through the window made something in her finger shine, leaving everyone open-mouthed.

"I can't believe it!" Bree shouted happily, leaping up as Becca - after screaming quite a loud "Whaaaat!?" – pulled Sam's hand not very delicately, bringing the ring right in front of her eyes, as if she couldn't believe what she was looking at. Sam blushed furiously, and even more when, as she looked up, her eyes met Sirius' mocking grin.

"I can't believe Eli didn't tell me!" Becca screamed

"It's soooo sweeeet!" Bree screamed

"When did he ask you!?"

"Have you already decided when?"

"I can't believe Eli didn't tell me!"

"And look at that ring!"

"I can't believe Eli didn't tell me!"

"Stop it, for Merlin's sake!" Sam begged, managing to free her hand and get rid of her friends, who finally calmed down and stopped talking.

"Thank god," Sirius sighed. "Can you explain to me why women's voiced acquire that irritating, high-pitched tone when they get excited? I think my ears are bleeding."

"Shut it, arsehole," Becca replied, shutting him up with a hand gesture and listening only to Samantha. "Tell me everything"

"No, we're not doing this." The girl replied, folding her arms, and Bree pulled a deeply saddened face, sitting next to Sirius again. "I can't believe I have to stand this without Eli." Sam added dramatically, but without her bad mood. Despite she hated to be in the spotlight, it was clear she was happy. She was engaged. Wow.

"Y'know? You should name the kid Elvendork." Sirius said casually, and Sam's head turned so fast that her neck hurt.

"WHAT?"

Rebecca chuckled when she understood what Sirius had implied.

"For the boy. Elvendork's a great name." He repeated, holding the laughter and ignoring his girlfriend's warning glance. She seemed quite amused as well. Sam closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, as if it required every bit of her self-control not to throw herself at Sirius and dismember him with her bare hands.

"I'm not pregnant." She said with a dangerous calm, glaring at Sirius eyes with a deadly smile. "And you won't hint that again"

"It works if it's a girl, too."

The only thing worth mentioning about what happened after that is that Sirius first stop after arriving to the castle was the Hospital Wing.

…

Lily and the rest didn't see their friends during the whole trip, for the new security measures included more thorough prefect patrols, and when they were done, the Hogwarts Express had already arrived at the Castle.

"I'm starving." Lily complained, heading next to Remus to the Gryffindor table. James had disappeared once he had seen Sirius, mentioning something about accompanying him to the Hospital Wing.

"Me too," Remus admitted: none of them had had time to eat their daily ration of chocolate. "But I suspect this year's Sorting Ceremony won't last long."

"Mm, you're right. Very few first-years this time."

Before they could wonder about the reasons of it, they spotted their friends, who gestured them to go sit with them

"Hey!" The redhead greeted cheerfully, hugging everyone and falling next to Bree.

"Tiring trip?" Sam asked, smiling understandingly.

"Very." Said Remus, sitting too.

They chatted about trivialties for a while, catching up with everything they had missed, except for the most important topic:

"Is that an engagement ring?" Remus suddenly asked, pointing at Sam's finger, who instinctively hid it: not that she was ashamed of ti, but she didn't want to be the spotlight in Gryffindor's table. Before she could answer, Lily looked up from her plate (which she had been staring at with a hopeful expression, as if it was about to be filled with food any minute) and fixed her green eyes on her friend's shiny ring. Her reaction was very different to her other friends':

"Oh, Sam! I'm so happy for you!" She said it softly but the words were soaked in emotion, and tears of happiness that she didn't shed flooded her eyes.

"Congratulations." Added the lycanthrope with a wide, sincere smile. Sam blushed and took the bangs out of her eyes with a smile.

"Thanks," she said, unable to hide her joy. "We're waiting a few years, though," She said, finally talking about it: Remus and Lily's reactions made her want to talk way more than her friends' squeals and Sirius' jokes. "One or two, not that long."

Right then Sirius arrived, letting himself fall next to Lily, patting Remus' shoulder when he went past him and giving the redhead a loud kiss and a hug. She didn't miss the knowing smile he threw her, but she deliberately ignored it.

"What are we talking 'bout?" He asked, resting his elbows on the table. As an answer, Lily pointed Sam's ring, and the dark-haired boy was careful enough not to say absolutely anything about it.

"Oh, I see." He said, making Bree and Peter laugh.

"Wow, congratulations!" James' voice exclaimed besides Lily, startling her. "Doesn't surprise me, to be honest." He said, smiling at Sam and waving at the rest. "I'll have to congratúlate Eli. Hello agai, Lils." And he casually kissed her, and then sat next to her without noticing the reaction he had just provoked in Samantha and Brianna, who stared at them wide-eyed. The truth was Lily was quite surprised as well: she wasn't expecting such an open display of affection right there in the Great Hall when she had even been careful not to mention anything to her own friends. James' brain took a few seconds to process what he had just done.

"Oh. My. God." Bree said in a restrained voice, but it was clear she was about to start jumping and squealing with joy. "Oh. My. God" She repeated.

"I'm sorry." James murmured, looking at Lily. "I swear I didn't mean to."

"Please, tell me I just imagined that," Sam – who seemed about to laugh – said. "Because if it was real I think I'll probably start jumping up and down along with Bree."

"Please, don't." Lily hissed, panicking just by imagining the racket everyone would make if they knew James and her were together. Were they together? Well, sort of. "We'll talk about this later, okay?"

"Do yo really expect us to agree with that?" Sam asked. Both Remus and Peter were smart enough not to intervene, and Sirius held back too after James stomped on his foot in a way that could easily have broken some of his toes.

"Aren't you the tiniest bit excited?" Bree asked, puzzled, looking at the rest until she realized. "You knew! And you didn't tell me!" She exclaimed, hitting her boyfriend on the head with her knuckles.

"Ouch! I had it forbidden!" He screamed, outraged.

"Would you please lower your voices?" Lily begged, slightly menacingly, and James resisted the urge t put his arm around her. "I said we'll talk about it later."

"Here come the new ones." James announced, relieved: accidentally revealing that Lily had finally accepted to go out with him wasn't the best idea to remain in good terms with his explosive, vulnerable redhead.

"They are so few!" Bree exclaimed, puzzled.

"That's what we were talking 'bout today," Said Remus, watching them enter and stopping in front of the stool. "They're really few; there are already too many the parents who prefer to keep their children at home; they think it's safer."

"Will they ever understand that those kids are way safer at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked, but no one answered, as professor McGonagall shut everybody up, placing the old, patchy Sorting Hat on the stool at the front of the Great Hall.

Then silence was made and the Hat begun singing:

_A thousand years or more ago,  
when Hogwarts barely started,  
when I was newly sewn,  
when the founders of this school united,  
back then they had a common goal,  
a wish, a hope, a dream:  
To make the greatest magic school  
the world had ever seen._

From moor came the bold Gryffindor,  
and shrewd Slytherin from fen,  
from valley broad arrived sweet Hufflepuff,  
and fair Ravenclaw from glen.  
To educate young sorcerers  
was the idea from the start,  
but which wizards should they teach to?  
That was the plan's weak part.

Now each of these four founders  
valued different virtues:  
Cunning, pure-blood wizards  
ambitious Slytherin would teach,  
while the sharp-minded Ravenclaw  
thought the clever they should pick.  
To noble Gryffindor the bravest  
would always be the best,  
and good Hufflepuff suggested  
they should also take the rest.  
A solution was soon found  
when these differences came to light:  
Each of the four would have a House  
so they wouldn't have to fight.

_But harmony wasn't eternal  
and discord grew among us,  
until finally the day came  
when old Slytherin departed  
And never since the founders four  
were whittled down to three  
have the Houses been united  
as they once were meant to be._

Now long after the school was founded  
the Hogwarts Sorting Hat's still here  
But listen closely to my song  
for this year I'll go further,  
though I must fulfill my duty  
and sort you for your values  
still I worry that it's wrong,  
to split us all in factions.  
I know our World's at war,  
I know we're all in danger  
I know Hogwarts is at risk  
and we must unite inside her  
I have told you, I have warned you...  
let the Sorting now begin.

An unusual silence hovered over the hall after the hat's song, broken shortly after by professor McGonagall's firm voice, who called "Abbleton, Lucy."

"What the hell's with that hat and giving advice now?" Sirius asked in a low voice, formulating the question that a great part of the students had thought.

"Suitable advice." Said Lily, shrugging.

"Suitable, but quite impossible." James replied. "If he expects us to join the Death Eaters over there." He added, making a gesture with his head towards the SLytherin table.

"Slytherin and Death Eater are not synonyms, James." Brianna told him off. Lily nodded, but Sam and Sirius grimaced incredulously.

"Even if they weren't," Sirius gave in at his girlfriend's glare. "Many of them _are _Death Eaters. So that 'stick together to defend ourselves from an external danger' advice comes a little late. The danger's already in."

"The point is that rivalries among Houses shouldn't exist," Lily interrupted. "The point is to stop thinking the Ravenclaws, the Hufflepuffs, or the Slytherins are our enemies. They're not. The enemies are Voldemort and his supporters."

"I have no problema with Ravenclaws," Sam said, stating the obvious. "Or the Hufflepuffs. Now, that hat can't ask me to be OK with the Slytherins"

"_That._" Sirius stated, strenghtening the word by poiting at Sam with his index, agreeing with her maybe for the first time in seven years.

"That attitude is plain stupid." Bree said angrily, and Remus nodded, adding:

"It's a deeply-rooted, unfair prejudice."

Before anyone could reply, profesor McGonagall called "Perks, Jonah" to out the hat on, and everyone listened attentively how, after several minutes of deliberation, the oddly tall, black-haired kid was sent to Ravenclaw. Sam smirked and clapped along with her brother's new housemates as he walked towards his table. Her eyes met Eli's as he congratulated the kid, and the girl couldn't help but laughing when her boyfriend clearly mouthed: "You're lucky first-years can't be part of the team".

"Anyway," said Sirius when other boy stepped forward to try the hat on. "How does the old thing know what happens at Hogwarts?" Remus laughed a little

"Well, he lives at Dumbledore's office, I guess it hears stuff."

Lily stopped paying attention to the conversation and looked at James, who had been unusually quiet.

"Are you alright?" She asked in a low voice, carefully placing her han don the boy's, which reste don his leg, under the table. James looked up slightly startled and smiled.

"Yeah, don't worry. I was just thinking. I'm kinda worried, y'know?" He admitted, interlacing his fingers with Lily's and toying with them.

"I know. But we're in this together." And she didn't care who could be watching: she stretched a little and gave him a brief but sweet kiss on the lips.

They were all so busy with their own issues that no one notice how Peter, who was looking sicker and sicker as they talked about the War, sneaked out of there and ran towards the Common Room.

…

**Weasley02**: Hey! Hope you're still there! Sorry for the waiting, and thank you for your review! Itts nice to hear this has inspired you to write your own Jily fanfic! About the tips you asked for, well, I am definitely no expert in the subject, but I can't tell you which tips _I_ consider useful, taking into account my experience. First of all: You need to have a plan. By this I don't mean that you can't change your mind in the middle of the story or that you have to know precisely when every character will sneeze or laugh; I just mean that you have to draft a plotline first, to decide which period of time will the story cover, and then write down a few veery important plot twists or conflicts (start with the canon ones, for instance, Lily's fight with Snape, or their death's, etc). Then add all the canon episodes you can remember (that is, if you want to make the story canon) and finally add some of the things you want to happen in the middle. You can change this later as the story develops, but it's a good idea to have a slight idea of where is the whole thing going. After that, you have to get to know the characters. Make sure each one of your OCs have their own distinct and clear personality, but also make sure that you know the canon characters well, because one of the most important things is to make sure you catch the "core" of the characters. Then just start writing, and you'll see how you come up with new James/Lily scenes or moments, and how their relationship develops by itself. I don't know if that was useful at all, but don't hesitate to ask for more if it was!

**Love-isn't-always-easy**: Hi! Great username, by the way. And sorry for the delay! Thank you very much for your review, I'm really glad to know you like the story and the characters. As for your story, I wish I had the time to go read it, but as you probably know (because it took me ages to update), I have no time at all to do it right now :/ I'll try to in a few months, when I'm on holiday, thought!

**Shalalalalalala**: Hope you're still there! Sorry it took me so long to update. I'm really glad to know you still like the story, and thanks for the review!

**Potterwatch**: I feel so guilty I'm having to apologize _again_ for the delay, especially since this time it wasn't even worth it, but if you're still there I hope this chapter wasn't _that _disappointing as it was for me. Thank you for you rreview, and I'm super glad to know you loved how James and Lily are together now :3 Thanks again, and I'm terribly sorry again!

**Knut**: So glad you liked it! And don't be sorry, I should be sorry for not updating more often

**Guest**: Aw thank you so much! I'm so glad to know you like it so much! And I'm terribly sorry it took me so long to update, especially since you checked every day if I had :/ You're probably not even checking anymore, but oh well, just in case! Thanks again!


End file.
